The Closet
by fembuck
Summary: The students of Kennedy High you know the twelve of them that are shown go on a field trip to New York … BrookeSam, femslash


**The Closet****  
**  
Author: Janine  
Pairing: Brooke/Sam  
Rating: PG-13-ish  
Summary: The students of Kennedy High (you know the twelve of them  
that are shown) go on a field trip to New York…  
Disclaimers: I don't own any of these characters, they're the  
property of Ryan Murphy and company (sorry, but I don't know  
companies name); I'm just borrowing them for a short period of time.

**Part One : Day One**  
------------------------

Sam smiled, it was a low, sexy smile, and she saw the girl standing   
across from her respond with a similar expression. Sam reached out  
her hand and crooked her finger out beckoning Brooke to come towards  
her as she bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes twinkling throughout  
the entire display. To her surprise the other girl shook her head,   
relaxing her stance; it became clear to Sam that Brooke didn't intend  
to go anywhere.

"If you want me," Brooke drawled out, an impish smile gracing her   
lips. "Come and get me," she continued her tone turning teasing. So  
it was a challenge, that was fine with Sam, she loved challenges.

Sam advanced on the blonde, her movements were slow and touched with  
a feline grace. She was an elegant, sleek jungle cat closing in on  
her prey. She didn't blink, she barely breathed, her entire being   
focused on capturing the prize in front of her.

Upon reaching her quarry, she extended her hand, she had met the   
challenge and she now wanted her prize. Brooke took a step back,  
dancing out of Sam's grasp. Sam took another step forward and  
reached for her again. Once more, Brooke stepped back, smiling all  
the time. Sam observed her for a second, quirking an eyebrow up   
questioning.

"You're not playing fair," she commented impatiently, but there was a   
somewhat petulant, almost whiny tone to her voice as well.

"Would you like some cheese to go along with that whine," Brooke   
replied with a mockingly inquisitive expression on her face. Her  
eyes however remained amused, teasing Sam. "Well?" she asked a   
moment later when the brunette didn't respond. Her hand dropped down  
to her waist as she said this, then started to trail up her torso and   
further up in-between her breasts suggestively as she watched Sam   
intently.

"You'll just move away again," Sam responded though she began to move   
towards Brooke again. She couldn't help it, the blonde called to  
her, like a moth to a flame.

"You'll never know unless you try," Brooke responded. Her finger was   
now in her mouth, the tip of it resting on her bottom lip innocently —  
in a Catholic schoolgirl in porn kind of way, that is.

Sam moved towards her once again, reaching out as she stepped up to   
Brooke. This time the blonde didn't step back, instead she relaxed  
her body letting Sam pull her into her so that they were soon nose to   
nose. They observed each other for a moment, Sam's head leaning  
forward then pulling back again in uncertainty, her lips hovering  
just in front of Brooke's. The blonde smiled as she watched the  
display, her tongue jutting out to lick her bottom lip.

"Come on Sam," Brooke said, her tone was soft but serious, it had   
lost the teasing edge that had coated all of her previous  
statements. "You know you want to," she continued, "why don't you   
practice what you preach."

Sam was still for a moment after Brooke spoke, then without further  
ado she leaned in and brought their lips together. The contact was   
hesitant at first, but in a short period of time their embrace became   
increasing heated. Their lips crashed against each other, their  
bodies straining to increase the contact between them. Their hands  
roamed each other's bodies, skin on skin, skin of cloth, caressing  
and exploring in a desperate haze.

The next thing Sam knew, they were lying on her bed and they were  
both completely naked. Brooke was draped over her body, covering  
almost every inch of her. She found that her own hands were trailing  
up Brooke's sides, towards her now fully exposed chest. She arched  
up into Brooke's hands, scarcely aware of the guttural sounds being   
emoted from her own throat.

"Who do you want?" Brooke whispered into Sam's ear as her hands   
expertly manipulated the brunette's body. Sam was too preoccupied to  
respond. "Who do you want?" Brooke repeated, ceasing her movements   
and looking at Sam intently.

"You," Sam moaned desperately as Brooke's hand began to trail below  
her waist and her hips expectantly. "I want you."

Sam bolted up into a sitting position, her chest heaving as she  
blinked rapidly. She braced her hands on the side of her body and  
closed her eyes taking a few deep calming breaths. When she  
eventually she managed to get her breathing somewhat under control,  
she sighed dejectedly and flopped back down on the bed. Dammit, not   
again! She couldn't freaking believe it, this was the fourth night  
in a row she had had the same dream about Brooke – well not exactly   
the same dream as they had gotten increasingly more graphic as time  
went on – and it was starting to piss her the hell off. Not only did   
Brooke haunt her for most of her waking hours, but now her  
unconscious had joined in too. It was a damn conspiracy.

She turned her head to the side. The phone was ringing. She  
smirked, not only was she glad to have the distraction, but she if  
this was the call she thought it was, she had been waiting for it for   
what seemed like eons and it couldn't have come at a better time.  
There was no more time to think about the meaning of her Brooke  
dreams, she had bigger fish to fry, greener pastures to move on to  
and all of that wonderful stuff.

"Hello?" she said hurriedly picking up the receiver, speaking into it  
before she even had the other end at her ear.

"Persephone?" the voice on the other end asked. The voice was  
unmistakably male, but Sam had already expected that, what threw her  
momentarily was tone, which wasn't nearly as deep as she had expected  
it to be.

"Arabian Knight?" she asked, shaking her head at the codename once   
again. That one always cracked her up.

"Is Operation Sizzler still a go?" Arabian Knight asked, his voice   
dropping secretively. Sam could almost picture him looking around  
his surroundings furtively, keeping an eye out for Fibbies in black,  
or places that could be easily bugged.

"You tell me?" Sam responded. "Everything's five by five on my end,"  
she continued deciding to play along with espionage-ese for the   
moment.

"The Museum of Modern Art, the janitorial closet across from the  
Pollack exhibit 8:00 pm," he responded. "Be there," he intoned   
seriously, "or be square. Arabian Knight out." The irritating  
buzzing of the dial tone followed this. Sam rolled her eyes and  
replaced the phone on the hook. He was goofier than she expected,  
but that didn't matter to her as long as he could deliver the goods.

"Sam," she heard her mother call through the door as she rolled out  
of bed. "Get up, your going to be late," she continued.

"It's only 7:30," Sam called back as she ran a hand through her hair   
and rubbed at her eyes.

"That may be so, but Brooke's already dressed and eating breakfast.  
You don't want to miss the bus," Jane replied.

"I'll be down in a minute," Sam responded. Soon after that she heard   
her mothers footsteps retreating down the hallway and she let out an   
exasperated breath. "Brooke's already dressed and eating breakfast"   
she repeated sourly in mocking tone as she stomped towards the  
bathroom. She hadn't even been wake for half an hour and already  
Brooke was haunting her.

**Part Two**  
------------

Brooke's surveyed the crowd uneasily. An abnormal silence had come  
over the assembled group of teenagers coating the peeling walls of  
the bus station with a palpable tension. Brooke closed her eyes, her   
face scrunching up in anticipation of the inevitable. She could feel  
the indignation swelling in the chests of each and every one of her   
peers, she could see hands clenching all around her, she could hear  
breaths being sucked in sharply, and breathes coming in huffs. In  
about one point five seconds, things were going to get very ugly.

Then it happened, all around her people erupted into fits of rage.   
Screaming, yells, fists pumping in the air. All around her comments  
were being shouted at the front of the station, "What do you mean   
there's a seating plan!", "The fuck!", "Excuse me!" To her  
immediate right, she could hear Nicole starting up. "No! No, I  
don't think that YOU understand. Listen to me…no listen TO ME. Pull  
your floppy ears out of the dog dish and listen to the grape vine,  
there is no way in hell that…" but the cries were soon interrupted   
by a screeching Bio Glass.

"If you want," Glass yelled waving a clip board in the air, "to be  
getting on this bus," she continued surveying the crowd with beady   
eyes, "you will shut your traps this instant and," she turned to face  
Nicole as she spoke, "as Miss Julian so gracefully put it," there was  
a definite snare on her face, "you will listen to the grapevine!"

Everyone was quiet.

"The seating is alphabetical," Glass announced, eyes roaming over the   
crowd. "Now move!" And with that she began to announce who would be  
sitting with each other on the bus.

"Cherry and Esposito," Glass yelled out. "Front and center."

Sam looked over at Lily trying valiantly to contain her smile, as for   
how well that worked, well, they say it's the thought that counts.  
Lily glared at her then made her way to the front. As she reached  
Bio Glass, she saw Mary Cherry look back and wink at her causing a  
deep, chilling shiver to run through her body. She looked over at  
Glass in desperation, panic over came her and threw herself at Glass,   
grasping onto her arm like it was gas mask on a crashing plane.

"Please, please don't make me sit with her!" Lily pleaded  
desperately, looking into Glass's eyes. "Oh God, don't make me sit  
with her," the brunette continued.

"Get on the bus Esposito," Glass responded shaking Lily off. "And   
for God's sake, pull yourself together."

"Ford and Ferrerr," Glass called out next.

Carmen looked over at Sam and winked, causing the journalist to shake  
her head and whisper "go em tiger!", to which Carm blushed and   
smiled nonetheless.

"Julian and John."

As Harrison walked by Sam crossed herself and mumbled, "My prayers   
are with you". As he approached the front of the bus Nicole turned   
around, and while nobody could be absolutely certain it appeared as  
if she growled at him.

"McPherson and McQueen," Glass called out, then paused for a  
second. "Oh, how quaint," Glass then added smiling as Brooke and Sam  
approached.

Sam sighed as she walked to their designated seating area. New York  
was a very long way away, and Sam could tell that this was going to  
be a positively excruciating bus ride.

**Part Three**  
--------------

Sam looked up and over at the girl next to her, an expression of  
extreme annoyance covering her features. Her nostrils flared and she  
rolled her tongue about in her cheek as she observed Brooke.

"I know!" the blonde exclaimed into her Fido excitedly. "I know!"  
she repeated making the two words last at least twice as long as they   
should have. "I know, I know," she continued smiling and nodding her  
head. "I…"

"If you say I know' one more time I will personally rip that phone  
out of your hand and beat you with it," Sam interrupted, barely   
restraining herself from reaching out and shaking the blonde. "Know  
that," she continued letting out a shuddering breath.

"Uh oh. Spam alert, Spam alert," could suddenly be heard coming from   
the front of the bus. "Abort mission, no equipment for a bitter, old   
hag attack."

Sam braced her hands on the arms rests and raised herself up so that  
she could see over the seats in front her. Turning her attention to  
the front of the bus she spotted Nicole looking back at her with a  
smile on her. Sam glared at the blonde for a moment and then sat   
down.

"Thank you," Nicole whispered to herself with a smile as she turned   
back around to face forward. It was then that she felt eyes on  
her. "What are you staring at Shaggy?" she asked turning to face   
Harrison who quickly averted his eyes to avoid being turned to stone.

Mary Cherry bounced in seat practically dying because she was so far  
away from the action. As she watched Nicole turn her wrath on Joe a  
small whimper escaped from between her lips. She was suffering from   
withdrawal pains, it felt like all of her organs were shriveling up  
into little raisin sized morsels. She didn't like being surrounded  
by brunettes at all, they had an earthy, rustic smell to them that   
disturbed sophisticated sensibilities. Feeling lower than Charlize  
Theron after she wore the same pantsuit as Charisma Carpenter, Mary  
Cherry turned her attention to Lil' Lily and suddenly she felt better.

Lily sensed Mary Cherry's eyes on her and shuddered. Oh lord, not  
again, Lily thought to herself. The southerner had actually left her  
alone for ten minutes or so, but that was about to change, Lily could  
feel it building up like a tropical storm. Hesitantly, almost  
painful she turned her head so that she could see Mary Cherry. The  
blonde was sitting up straight and had her head craned at an odd  
angle; when she noticed Lily watching her she smiled and licked her  
lips winking at Lily suggestively. The brunette watched in a state  
of confusion before she finally realized that with the angle Mary   
Cherry was leaning at the blonde could see down her shirt. She  
shuddered again, her hands gripping the armrests like they were the  
last bottle of Evian in the Sahara desert. Then as she saw Mary  
Cherry begin to dig into her leather carry on bag, panic gripped her  
and she frantically turned around looking behind her. She had to   
escape.

"Lookie what I got Lil' Lily," Mary Cherry said drawing Lily's   
attention back to her.

Lily shook her head and began to mouth "no, no" over again before  
suddenly standing up and running to the end of the bus where she  
locked herself in the washroom.

Brooke turned her head to look at Sam who was still watching her with  
an expression that could peel paint. The brunette's death stare had   
been momentarily broken when she turned to watch Lily run through the   
aisle, but she was now back at it with a renewed vigor. Raising her  
hand up Brooke pointedly clicked her phone off, the small screen  
going black with a little beep. "Not that I didn't enjoy the threats   
of bodily injury," Brooke started in a soft tone, "but all you had to  
do was ask," she continued turning away from Sam and slumping back in  
her chair slightly.

Sam looked over at Brooke, feeling genuinely ashamed. Sometimes she  
was just so Joan Crawford not even she could stand it. "I'm sorry,"   
Sam said softly as she too slumped back in her chair moodily. She  
was surprised at how easily the words fell out of her mouth, though  
she considered that with the thoughts that had been running through  
her head lately she shouldn't really have been.

"I was just bored," Brooke mumbled a minute later breaking the   
silence that had arisen between the two of them after Sam spoke. Sam  
looked over at her but didn't say anything. "And I think we both  
know that you weren't exactly an option," she continued as her eyes   
traced the contours of the roof idly.

"That's not true," Sam muttered under her breath as she picked at one   
of her nails, her eyes flickering to observe Brooke's profile   
nonetheless. Brooke didn't respond to her verbally, but Sam did see  
her loll her head to the side and roll her eyes dramatically. She   
frowned.

"That was mature," Sam commented, moody once more.

Brooke turned to look at her, a mildly amused expression on her  
face. "You're the one that threatened to beat me to death with my   
phone and you're question my maturity level?" she asked. Instead of   
responding Sam returned to picking at her nails. "You know, you can  
act as pissy as you want to, but you know you wouldn't have talked to   
me," Brooke continued. This comment caused Sam to look over at her,  
not so much because of what she said but because of how she said it.   
There was something in Brooke's voice, an accusation, and a sadness  
that Sam couldn't help but acknowledge.

"Even if I wanted to talk to you," Sam started somewhat defensively,   
though she didn't exactly know why, "what could we possibly have   
talked about? I know that I'm personally at a loss as to what could  
out do that no doubt mentally exhausting I know' conversation."

"Oh, I don't know," Brooke responded turning to face Sam. "Maybe   
Herman Melville's condemnation of consumer society as can be seen in  
his little appreciated work Bartleby, the Scrivener'."

Sam's lips parted in her surprise and her brows scrunched  
together. "I…" she started to say.

"Never mind," Brooke interrupted turning away once more. "I've   
decided to re-organize my make-up case."

Sam stared at her for a moment longer, her mind trying to come to  
grasps with the fact that, one, Brooke knew who Herman Melville was,  
let alone was able to comment on the themes of one of works, and two,   
that she commented on the condemnation of consumer society and then   
decided to re-organize her make-up case. Shaking her head, she  
turned around and looked out the window. Screw Brooke, she didn't  
really want to talk to her anyway.

**Part Four**  
-------------

Brooke turned her head to look at Sam just as the brunette turned to  
face her. Their eyes locked and narrowed. They had entered their  
room only moments before engaging in this almost primal staring  
contest. Sam licked her lips. Brooke noticed the movement and  
blinked. This was the opportunity that Sam had been looking for.  
She smiled to herself and thought sucker!' She broke out into a  
sprint. Brooke noticed the movement and started after her, but she  
was too slow. Sam jumped into the air launching herself forward,  
landing on the mattress softly, skidding across it for a second  
before coming to complete stop. She raised herself into a sitting  
and then a standing position where she turned to face Brooke arms  
raised high in triumph.

"I have picked my bed," Sam declared smiling. It was the one on the   
right side of the room, the one she knew Brooke wanted. Both of them  
had this thing with having whatever was on the right side, and she  
had won this battle.

"Whatever," Brooke mumbled staring at Sam as if she were trying to  
cast a spell that would inflict the ten plagues of Egypt plus a  
clashing wardrobe upon the brunette. After that voodoo moment Brooke  
then bent down and picked up her suitcase adding stupid jackass'  
under her breath as she carried it over to the other bed.

Sam sat and down on the bed and crossed her legs watching as Brooke   
resentfully heave her suitcase onto the bed, still muttering under  
her breath.

"Don't be bitter," Sam commented as she luxuriated across her bed,   
sighing contently, "it'll give you wrinkles."

Brooke frowned, turning her head slightly so that she could see  
Sam. "I'd ask if you're always this annoying, but I'm already   
painfully aware of the answer to that question," Brooke responded,   
pushing to suitcase to the other side of the bed and lying down   
wearily.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be roomed with you either Merry Sunshine," Sam   
replied getting up off of the bed and moving to retrieve her own  
suitcase, which had been unceremoniously dumped just inside the  
doorway. Hauling the luggage up onto her bed, Sam looked over at  
Brooke just in time to see the blonde smirk and let out a short,  
derisive, wisp of laughter before then moodily turning her attention  
to the ceiling. Sam observed her for a second, think that she looked   
rather peaceful despite the situation, the way the light was shining  
on her seemed to light her hair up making it look like she was   
surrounded by a golden halo, and the angle that she had her head  
titled at gave her a rather reflective appearance, like one of those   
ancient Greek statues from the classical period where the subject  
always looked like the were contemplating some elusive truth.

Sam turned away and began to fiddle with her suitcase, trying to open   
it. She had things to prepare for tomorrow before Glass came to get  
them for dinner. There were other things to think about besides  
Brooke. She was on a mission after all.

"Dammit," Sam exclaimed a moment later. The lock to her suitcase  
seemed to be stuck. She did not need this. In fact, she was so busy  
trying to mentally combust the case that she didn't notice Brooke  
approach her until the blonde spoke.

"Here," Brooke softly said coming to stop beside Sam and reaching  
over for the case. "Mine does this all the time," she continued   
turning her head to look at Sam for a moment before returning her  
gaze to the suitcase. Sam felt herself gulp, and prayed to God that  
it wasn't audible. Having Brooke this close to her, speaking to her  
in a soft sexy whisper was doing things to her that was only suppose  
to happen when she was alone in her room at night.

"All you have to do is very gently," and with that Brooke raised her   
arm high up into the air and slammed it down onto the top of the  
leather suitcase with all of her strength. Sam gaped at her, so  
surprised by Brooke's assault of her suitcase that she didn't resist  
when the blonde then reached for the key, which was loosely held in  
her hand, and removed it using it to open the case.

"Thanks?" Sam responded still mildly stunned, but glad that she was  
no longer in the Brooke induced fog that had been hanging over her   
moments before. Brooke took a step away from Sam, looking over at  
her, a small smile gracing her features before she looked away and  
headed back over to her side of the room. "I meant that," Sam added  
a moment later.

"Your welcome," Brooke replied as she lay back down and closed her   
eyes while taking in a deep breath. Sam smelt like lavender and she  
could still faintly detect the scent hovering about her. She liked  
it, not that she would ever in life tell Sam that.

She stayed like that for a moment longer then opened her eyes and  
turned to look at Sam once more. "Wake me up for dinner?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sam responded nodding as she spoke, she was feeling a wee bit  
out of it, she knew this because it didn't even occur to her to fight   
with Brooke, no "what am I? Your freaking butler?", no "yes   
highness, would you like me to fan while I'm at it?", no "This may be   
the Plaza but that ain't on the room service menu", just yeah'. Sam   
continued to watch Brooke as Brooke continued to look at her but then  
the blonde turned away and closed her eyes once again, and Sam too   
looked away suddenly deciding that what the room desperately needed  
was some ice.

**Part Five**  
------------

Brooke slowly, curiously cracked one eye open. For the last couple  
of seconds she had been coated with a feeling of unease, as if  
someone was watching her. However, years of movies of the week and  
badly acted films had instilled a certain amount of caution in her,  
and if there was some bloody thirsty killer in the room she didn't  
want them to know that she was awake, so she barely cracked open one  
eye and looked out to see what awaited her.

"Ah," Brooke cried jumping back slightly. What had awaited her was  
Sam's face hovering inches away from her.

"Hee," and a smile was Sam's response to her. Brooke frowned.

"What are you doing you psycho?" Brooke mumbled as she pulled herself   
together. Sam continued to smile.

"You asked me to wake you up," Sam replied seating herself of the   
edge of Brooke's bed. "So I woke you up."

"I said wake me, not stare at me like some pedophile in training,"   
Brooke responded as she sat up slightly. She hadn't bothered to get  
under the covers, so all she had to do was rest her back against the   
headboard to be on even ground with Sam—who seemed to be making  
herself quite comfortable.

Sam's face dropped a bit when Brooke said that, her expression  
turning serious. Brooke wasn't sure what to make of the change so  
she remained silent. Sam turned her head so that she was facing  
Brooke, her eyes locked on her intensely.

"I really didn't mean to scare you, I was just about to tap you on  
the shoulder when you woke up," she began conciliatorily.

"It's okay," Brooke responded feeling compelled to say  
something. "I'm not really a morning…no, make that a getting up  
person. It doesn't really matter what time it is, I just don't like   
it."

Sam smirked but her expression soon became serious once more. She  
turned her head away again so that she was looking at her lap.

"I did watch you though," she said a moment later, raising her head   
to look out the window. Brooke looked confused but didn't say  
anything. "You're so small," Sam continued a second later. "You   
looked so….small," she went on hesitating for a second them shrugging   
her shoulders helplessly as she repeated the word small'.

"I…" Brooke started, not at all sure what to make of Sam's behavior.

"Don't know what to make of that?" Sam asked interrupting Brooke,  
that cocky smile of hers once again covering her face. Brooke nodded   
smiling herself, encouraged by the expression on Sam's face.

"If I were you I'd be a morning, or should I say getting up, person,"   
Sam continued still observing Brooke.

"Why?" Brooke questioned intrigued by Sam. She couldn't figure out  
why the other girl was actually talking to her, she figured maybe it  
was to show her up for that comment she'd made on the bus, but   
truthfully she didn't care. She just wanted to see where this was   
going.

"Because like an astonishing one per cent of the population you  
actually wake up looking refreshed and rosy cheeked," Sam  
said. "It's really quite remarkable how much money you spend   
supporting Max Factor when it's good genes and enough sleep that do  
all the work."

Brooke stared at her, completely and utterly befuddled. She was sure  
that for a second or two after Sam had spoken her mouth had opened so   
that she was gaping at the other girl, but she had quickly closed it  
so that now she was only staring at her in amazement. She didn't  
know what to say to that, so she fell back on the old reliable route  
of sarcasm.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, but you're already in my bed,"  
Brooke said winking at the other girl. She had assumed that Sam  
would get all huffy at the comment, make some remark about her lack  
of maturity and stalk into the bathroom where she would remain for so   
long that Brooke would have no time to get in there before they were   
called down for dinner. Brooke was wrong, Sam did none of those  
things. Sam looked over at her and smiled. Then Sam shifted her  
position so that she was sitting leaned up against the headboard  
right next to Brooke.

"That almost sounded like a invitation Ms. McQueen," Sam said   
teasingly.

"Make of it what you will," Brooke replied because quite frankly she   
had no idea what to say other than that.

"Alright," Sam responded thoughtfully nodding her head slowly in  
contemplation for a moment before looking back over at Brooke. "I  
will," she continued, that smile, that damn cocky loveable smile back  
on her face. And before Brooke knew it Sam's lips were on hers,   
pressing against hers. Surprise caused her to try and jerk her head  
back at first, it was a base instinct, but she found that she  
couldn't do it. Sam's hand had followed the course of her lips and  
was holding the back of Brooke's head firmly in place. The only way  
to stop the kiss would have been for Brooke to push Sam away from  
her, and, well, she found that she didn't really want to do that.  
Her body relaxed and she leaned forward into the kiss, surrendering  
to Sam's skillful ministrations. As she leaned into the kiss she  
felt Sam smile against her lips then shift closer to her on the bed.  
This caused Brooke to smile herself before then forcibly bringing  
Sam's lips back to hers, moaning into Sam's mouth as her passion  
mounted. If this is how she was woken up every morning, there just  
might have been hope for her yet.

"Sam?" Brooke questioned. She was feeling a bit dizzy. She didn't   
understand it, she felt like she was being shaken. "Sam stop that  
this instant," she said looking across her and noticing that Sam's   
hands were now on her shoulders and were apparently trying the shake  
the shit out of her.

"Goddammit wake up!" Sam yelled shaking Brooke some more. First the  
stupid girl tells her to wake her up, then she lies there like limp  
noodle mumbling at Sam while channeling somebody's mother.

"The…?" Brooke asked opening her eyes and seeing Sam standing over  
her still shaking her for all she was worth. "I'm awake," Sam still  
didn't stop. "I'm awake," Brooke repeated, her head was starting to  
pound. "Get your bloody hands off of me, I said I'm awake!" she   
yelled finally raising her hands trying to beat Sam off of her before  
she did some serious damage to her brain.

"Dinner, fifteen minutes," Sam told her with a scowl then the  
brunette stalked across the room and walked out the door.

Brooke drew her knees up to her body and dropped her head onto them.  
This was not good, she thought herself, although secretly she  
admitted she liked how Sam had woken her up in her dream better than  
reality. No, she then thought to herself, you will not think such  
thoughts. This…nightmare, she continued as she flung her legs over  
the edge of the bed and stood up, was not about Sam or sex or  
especially not about sex with Sam. That was just ludicrous. It was   
about…about…about her own narcissism, yes that was it. She was far  
too complimentary to herself in the dream; this was her  
subconscious's way of telling her to get over herself. Well, she  
thought, message sealed, signed and delivered. As she stood in front  
of the mirror, she decided – with this new knowledge fresh in her   
mind—that she was only going to wear foundation and lip gloss to   
dinner.

**Part Six: Day Two**  
------------------------

Brooke rolled her head around her shoulders tiredly and rubbed at her  
eyes. She was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on  
what their tour guide was saying. She had gotten next to no sleep  
the night before and she was feeling the effects of it now. She and  
Sam hadn't spoken much when they had returned to their room after   
dinner, and when they did speak to each other it was fleeting, yet   
surprisingly polite. Mundane things, who got first dibs on the  
bathroom, who was going to put their clothes in which drawer, which  
one of them got control of the remote. Despite the civility of the   
conversation however, it was uncomfortable as hell and if it hadn't  
been for the fact that it was after midnight and that they were on   
lockdown, Brooke would have made her rounds and gone to visit Nicole  
and Mary Cherry in the adjoining suites they had reserved on the top   
floor. But it had been after midnight, they were on lockdown, and  
Brooke was left with no other option but than to lay down, and try  
not to think about Sam, which, vexingly, was something she had been   
finding increasing hard to do since the brunette had woken her up  
earlier on. Then to make matters worse, it seemed as if Sam was  
having trouble sleeping too, so they both had lay there in the dark   
painfully aware of the others presence until Sam had broken the  
silence. In fact Brooke could remember everything that had been said   
perfectly.

"Brooke?" Sam had said softly, the word hovering in the air for a  
moment before the blonde responded.

"Yeah," Brooke had said, her eyes trained on the ceiling—not that she   
could make it out or anything.

"You awake?" Sam asked.

"What do you think Sam?" Brooke had responded turning so that she was   
facing Sam's bed even though she couldn't see her. It wasn't like  
Sam to ask stupid questions, so it immediately put Brooke on guard.

"I'll go with, yes," Sam responded, her tone a bit rueful. "Listen,   
I just wanted to say I shouldn't have shook you like that, and if  
your head really hurts then…"

"Don't worry, I won't make you say it," Brooke responded. "Wouldn't   
want a black hole opening in the room and sucking time and space into  
a huge gaping oblivion because we seemed to be getting along." She   
paused there for a moment. "And it only hurt for a little while."

"Yes…well…" Sam said in response. Brooke had expected more to follow  
that, but apparently Sam was done, because the silence came after  
that once more. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep however,  
she learned that she was wrong about the silence because Sam started  
up again a few minutes later. "I was thinking, that is to say that   
our previous conversation and you helping me with my suitcase made me   
think," Sam continued shaking her head at herself as the words came  
out of her mouth.

"And," Brooke questioned, sitting up slightly.

"And I think we should try, you know, make a valiant attempt to not  
piss each other off. Although the argument could be made that this   
situation shouldn't really be new for each of us since we live  
together back home, that argument is faulty. The fallacy lies mostly  
with the principles of time and space, which allow for us to be  
hardly ever occupying the same area at the same time back home.  
Here, however, things are different and…fighting could lead to bodily   
harm. So if you can pretend that you don't hate me for four more  
days, I think this trip could be much more enjoyable for both of us,"   
Sam replied hurriedly, before letting out a breath and sinking back  
down onto her pillow.

Brooke was silent for a long time after Sam spoke, so long in fact  
that Sam had begun to wonder if the blonde had fallen asleep by the  
time she replied. "That sounds acceptable," Brooke said   
finally. "And," she added pausing again, "I never hated you," she  
went on quickly, then she shifted again, her sheets rustling together   
audibly and she closed her eyes.

"Brooke…" Sam started a second later, surprised by the other girl's  
words. Actually Brooke's words had caused some heart palpitations,  
but Sam chose not to focus on that at the moment.

"Brooke's sleeping now," the blonde responded, "she'll be available   
again in the morning, thank you and please call again," she continued   
effectively putting an end to the conversation.

"What no beep?" Sam asked afterwards, but she said nothing after that   
and Brooke could hear her settle down into the bedding like she had  
done only moments before.

Brooke was broken out of her revere by the tour guide who was  
explaining the origins of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" to them. "When   
Vincent van Gogh was a patient in an asylum at Saint-Rémy in the   
south of France, he wrote to his brother Theo," she was saying as   
Brooke looked around to see if anyone had noticed her space  
out. "This morning I saw the country from my window a long time   
before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very  
big," the tour guide went on. Looking around her at the restless  
faces of the Kennedy students loosely assembled around her, Brooke  
figured that it was a good thing this was the last painting on the  
tour. It was becoming very clear to her that the natives were  
getting restless, and truthfully she counted herself among them. "He   
said he stayed up for three nights painting the picture because  
according to him, the night is more alive and more richly colored  
than the day." This was followed by clapping and then the scattering   
students who ran off to eat, or smoke, or ogle the nudie pictures  
during their free time.

Brooke's eyes immediately drifted over to Sam. She never wanted her  
eyes to immediately drift over to Sam, but despite her wishes her  
eyes just seemed to do it anyway, so not for the first time that day  
she found herself gazing at Sam, this time as the brunette walked  
away. Sam had branched off from her other friends, heading in the  
opposite direction; Brooke would have wondered where she was off to,  
but Nicole grabbed her arm and started dragging her down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Brooke asked giving up trying to follow Sam  
with her eyes and turning her attention to Nicole.

"Does it matter?" the shorter blonde responded. "The hell away from  
here," she continued shaking her head.

Sam paused, she had the strangest feeling that someone was watching  
her. She knew she was late for her meeting, but she turned around  
anyway, worse than being late would have been having someone notice  
where she was off to. Looking behind her she noticed Kennedy  
students scattering, but didn't see anyone watching her except for  
maybe Brooke who was in the process of turning around anyway.  
Despite herself Sam watched Nicole drag Brooke through the hall for a  
moment longer before turning around herself and heading towards the  
Pollack exhibit. She didn't have time to think about Brooke, she had  
a job to do. She didn't have time to think about the fact that she  
and Brooke had gotten along smashingly that morning, she didn't have   
time to think about the fact that she had seen the blonde smile more  
at her in the past two days than the past few years. She didn't have   
time to think about the fact that she had had a dream about Brooke  
again last night, and that when she woke up in the morning and  
realized that the object of her lust was lying peacefully mere meters  
away for her it had excited her so much that she had been forced to  
take an agonizingly cold shower. She didn't have time to think about  
the fact, that she and Brooke had actually talked on the bus as they   
drove from site to site, and that Sam had enjoyed talking with her,   
finding her conversation to be smart, and amusing. Sam didn't have  
time to think about these things, but that didn't stop her from  
thinking about them anyway.

**Part Seven**  
--------------

Finally locating the Pollack exhibit Sam hurriedly made her way to  
the janitorial closet across the hall from it. Seeing the door  
slightly ajar she tilted her head up and sent a silent thank you to  
the man upstairs for the fact that her contact hadn't been spooked  
away when she failed to arrive on time. Clutching her shoulder bag  
closer to her she rapidly walked over to the door, this was the type  
of story that became notorious in a school's history, if Arabian  
Knight presented her with the information she thought he would, she  
would go down in Kennedy High history. Plus, it would look really  
good on her University application.

Stepping into the closet she closed the door behind her silently.  
Her heart was racing, this was so cool.

"Arabian Knight?" she called out, "it's Persephone," she continued  
walking a bit further into the room.

"Over here," a voice returned. It was the same voice she had heard   
over the phone, Sam smiled to herself. Suddenly and light flicked  
on, Sam squinted and covered her eyes with her hand until her eyes   
adjusted to the light.

"I can't see you," she said moving her head around.

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Arabian Knight responded directing the light so   
that it was no longer shining directly in Sam's eyes.

"No problem," Sam responded mildly as the spots that were dancing in   
front of her eyes began to disappear. "Did you bring the stuff?"

"Of course," Arabian Knight responded rather indignantly. "Would I  
be here if I didn't?"

"Good," Sam responded. "Shall we get on with this then?" she asked   
opening up her shoulder bag and producing a notebook.

"Yes, let's" Arabian Knight said finally stepping out of the shadows   
as he walked towards Sam. The brunette gasped as she got her first  
look at him, then stared as he continued towards her. "What?" he   
asked peevishly, self-consciously running a hand through his hair.

"How old are you?" Sam asked suspiciously getting a painful feeling   
in the pit of her stomach.

"I told you I'm seventeen," Arabian Knight responded straightening   
his back and puffing her chest forward. Sam merely raised an eyebrow  
at him, it was clear to him that she did not believe  
him. "Thirteen," he said deflating somewhat, "but I can help you,"  
he continued quickly. "I knew you wouldn't talk to me if you knew   
how young I was, but I have information that needs to be spread and I   
knew that you could do it."

"Does your mother know you're out?" Sam asked, as she pictured an   
irate mother busting into the room and battering her over the head  
while yelling about how Sam was trying to corrupt her baby. She   
shuddered.

"Pokemon opened today," Arabian Knight responded, "I'm good for at   
least another hour and a half," he continued smiling. "Not bad,   
huh?" he asked.

Sam rolled her eyes. Pokemon, oh lord. "Let's just get on with   
this, what have you got for me?" she asked wanting to get out of   
there as fast as possible.

"Information that'll change the way school cafeteria's operate from  
here to Miami," he responded placing a folder down on an overturned   
box. "Information that will shock and alarm you. Something that  
will make you question everything you ever thought you knew.  
Something that…"

"You do not want to finish that," Sam said holding up her  
hands. "This isn't a rhetoric exam, just tell me what you know." 

"Okay," Arabian said, but Sam could tell that he was disappointed she  
had interrupted his little speech. Oh, well, c'est la vie. "The   
information I have for you will unquestionably prove that school  
cafeteria's all over the country, have for the past year been using  
chemicals pilfered from school chemistry classes to artificially  
enhance the products served for lunch in an attempt to reduce  
spending. And, that this disturbing trend was started by one  
Bobby Bio' Glass, at a school I think you are very familiar with,"   
he concluded with a smile. "Take a look at this," he continued   
opening up the folder he had been carrying with him.

Sam looked down at the pieces of paper then back up at him and  
smiled. She had hit the jackpot and she was going to ride it all the   
way.

**Part Eight**  
---------------

"Leave her," Nicole stated emphasizing each of her words  
clearfully, "you'll be doing us all a favor. Rose petals and doves  
await you…besides, don't feel bad, Spam'll fit in perfectly with the   
freaks and fringe loners that inhabit the city. You'll be helping  
her out, finally she will have found her people," Nicole continued   
trying to guide Brooke towards the exit of the Museum. She wanted to  
get back to the Plaza, "Shakespeare in Love" was coming on Cinemax.

"I won't be able get on the bus, we have to sign in at the same  
time," Brooke responded craning her head back around trying to catch  
some glimpse of Sam. "Don't worry, you go, I'll find her and meet   
you outside," Brooke said removing her arm from Nicole's grasp.

Upon extracting herself from Nicole's sphere of influence Brooke  
looked around her trying to figure out what direction she had seen  
Sam go off in. Finally, she just settled on left and started to head  
in that direction, she hadn't passed the Pollack exhibit or the  
Etching demonstration so she decided that she should start with those   
places. Stopping on the ramp that would take her to her first  
destination Brooke carelessly turned the corner.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the blonde exclaimed as she bumped into someone.   
Her hands immediately stretching out as she tried to steady whomever  
it was she had just crashed into.

"I'm o…Brooke?" Sam asked, uncomfortably aware of Brooke's hands   
brushing over her body.

"Oh it's you," Brooke said finally focusing on Sam for the first   
time. "I've been looking for you."

"You have?" Sam asked rather incredulously before she had to time to   
think better of it. "I mean, you have," she corrected herself, her  
tone far more civil.

"Yeah, I have," Brooke responded shaking her head. "It's time to go,  
Glass is going to flip. We were suppose to be out there about five  
minutes ago," Brooke continued subtly trying to usher Sam towards the   
exit. Sam looked down at her watch, surprise covering her feature.

"I didn't realize…"

"Yeah, yeah, time flies when you're having fun," Brooke muttered as   
she continued to gently shove Sam towards the door. "By the way your   
bags open," she added distractedly as she concerned herself with   
whether it would be faster to go left or right.

"Wha…" Sam began looking down at her bag. "Uh no," she muttered her  
face screwing up in frustration. "I can't believe I left it behind,"   
she continued stopping dead in tracks and turning around.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Brooke asked hurriedly  
making an about face.

"I forgot something," Sam mumbled as she hurriedly made her way   
through the crowd. "You go ahead, I'll find my way back to the  
hotel," she said turning around to face Brooke before returning her  
focus forward.

"I can't get on the bus unless you're there," Brooke said catching up  
to Sam and placing her hand on her shoulder halting her progress.

"I have to go get it," Sam said. "Glass will let you on, just say  
that you couldn't find me. Nobody'll blame you," she continued   
before working herself out of Brooke's grasp and continuing back down  
the hall.

Once again Brooke quickened her step to catch up with Sam.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked turning her head to the side as   
Brooke began to power walk beside her.

"I'm coming with you," Brooke responded meeting Sam's eyes.

"Why?" Sam asked genuinely confused.

"Because I'm not going to leave you to wonder around by yourself at  
night to be raped or murdered by some psycho," Brooke responded.

Sam stopped and turned to look at Brooke, her mouth opened and closed  
a couple of times but no words came out of her for the first few   
seconds. "I…you don't have to," she said chickening out before she   
even got started. She had planned on expressing surprise and  
gratitude for Brooke's concern with her safety, but that didn't end  
up happening.

"I know," Brooke replied meeting her gaze. She stared at Sam for a   
second longer, then gave a short little laugh as she shook her  
head. "Well?"

"This way," Sam said and with that they wondered off back into the   
depths of the Museum. 

**Part Nine**  
-------------

Sam extended her hand managing to both whack Brooke in the chest and   
halt her progress. Brooke looked down at the spot Sam had hit and  
made a face barely registering the brunette's mumbled "janitor" and  
she rubbed her now sore spot. Trying to distract herself, Brooke  
looked up and watched as Sam's head bobbed around the corner as she  
spied on the janitor's movements while muttering to herself about   
something or the other. Looking back down again Brooke suppose she  
should be grateful Sam hadn't landed her blow a few centimeters lower.

"Come on," Sam whispered to Brooke as she crept out from behind the   
wall they had been hiding behind. The halls of the museum were   
practically empty and even the soft sounds of their feet scuffling  
along the floor reverberated against the walls.

Brooke looked around her in something close to wonder, the place  
seemed grander in the silence, she felt more humbled. She thought  
that she would have liked visiting museums much more if they were  
always like this.

"In here," Sam said, hesitating for a moment before finally reaching   
out and taking Brooke's hand into hers. The blonde seemed distracted  
and she had to get her attention somehow. Brooke looked over at her   
immediately after their hands touched, her gaze dropping to their  
conjoined hands for a moment before she began to walk in the  
direction Sam was facing. To the brunette's surprise, and pleasure  
Brooke made no effort to remove her hand from Sam's once they began  
to walk again, and by some silent accord Sam made no effort to let go   
of Brooke's either.

As Sam stopped in front of a janitorial closet Brooke looked over at   
her simultaneously smiling and raising a questioning eyebrow. It was  
a look that said "what the hell" but in a sleazy, porn director kind  
of way.

"Shut up Brooke," Sam muttered as she opened the door and slipped   
inside. Brooke followed behind her letting the door close as they  
became submerged in darkness. "There's a light over here somewhere,"   
Sam said stepping away from the door. A minute – and a couple of  
bumps and colourful phrases – later Sam turned on the light and the  
room was covered in a dim yellow glow.

Sam quickly made her way over to the overturned box, which had served  
as Arabian Knights desk, dropping down and crouching over it as she  
got there. "Shit," she muttered as she looked around the box with no  
luck. She wondered if maybe the janitor had found the fallen folder  
while he was in there, but then her eye caught something just over to  
the left. Reaching out, she closed her eyes let out a relieved sigh,  
it was still there. Picking up the folder and smiling she turned  
around to face Brooke who was watching her with a curious but patient   
expression. If she hadn't have just found the folder on the floor  
she would have brought it to her lips and given it a big kiss. As if   
was, as the wave of euphoria rushed through her body she had to  
struggle not to yell yes!' pump her fists in the air and give Brooke  
a big hug.

"We can go now," is what she said however.

"Good," Brooke said turning around and reaching for the doorknob.

"Come on, I thought you were in a hurry," Sam said a moment later as   
she walked up behind Brooke who still hadn't opened the door.

Brooke turned around to face Sam, her features were drawn and she was   
blinking rapidly. "The door's locked," she stated.

"What?" Sam asked.

"The door. It's locked," Brooke repeated her left eye twitching   
slightly.

"It can't be," Sam responded pushing past Brooke and reaching for the  
handle herself. She turned it and pushed. Nothing happened. She  
tried it again to the same effect. "The door's locked," she said   
softly a second later.

"Yeah, I covered that," Brooke responded. "Not that I'm trying to   
usurp control or anything, but I've rapidly come to the conclusion  
that secrecy is no longer our friend, and that if we want to get out  
of here we better start yelling like now," she finished still   
watching Sam.

"I concur," Sam replied immediately. "After you," she said waving  
her hand graciously.

Brooke nodded her head and opened her mouth to begin screaming like a  
baby in any enclosed space when the light in the hall outside the  
door suddenly went out. She turned her head to look at Sam, in  
moments of crisis like this it was always good to consult with  
others. They stared at each other for a second then they both flung   
themselves at the door and began banging on it and screaming for all  
they were worth.

**Part Ten**  
------------

Brooke slumped back against the door and let herself slid to the  
ground with a soft sigh. They had been banging for over ten minutes  
and nobody had come to let them out, leading Brooke to the conclusion   
that there was nobody there to let them out, and that there probably   
wouldn't be until morning. The walls of the closet were thick and  
Brooke could tell from the way their voices were being absorbed by  
them next to none of the noise they were making was getting beyond  
the door.

"Sam," Brooke said softly. "Just stop," she went on. "Nobody's out  
there, sit down."

"Somebody's got to come by," Sam insisted even though she sunk to the   
ground joining Brooke. "A security guard or something."

"If one walks by we'll hear and start yelling again, but I'm not up  
for continuous yelling for the rest of the night. Doing it or  
hearing it," Brooke responded tilting her head back and rubbing her   
eyes.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Sam asked as she focused on a   
rickety looking shelving unit at the back of the closet.

"The way I see it we have to options. We can sit here in silence  
until someone finds us, or we can talk," Brooke replied turning to   
look over at Sam. "You indicated yesterday that you weren't totally   
averse to the idea of conversing with me in a non-combative manner,  
so now's our chance," she finished.

Sam removed her gaze from the shelving unit and turned to watch  
Brooke watch her. She was beautiful the dim light of a dusty museum   
janitorial closet, Sam decided as she watched the blonde. "What do  
you want to talk about?" the brunette asked finally. "Herman   
Melville's condemnation of consumer society?"

Brooke smiled but shook her head. "Actually, I was wondering how I   
ended up getting trapped in here," she responded pointedly looking at   
the manila folder that was now lying in Sam's lap.

"This could take a while," Sam said softly as she traced her finger   
around the edge of the folder. She never talked about pieces she was   
working on before she had finished them, it was one of her unwritten  
rules. To break it, for Brooke – even if she did owe the girl an   
explanation – would be a big step, a leap of trust as it were.

"If there's one thing we've got," Brooke replied watching Sam fiddle   
with the folder.

"About a month ago I was in one of the chat rooms on…." Sam began.

**Part Eleven**  
----------------

"I don't know what to tell you sir…ma'am, sir, ma'am sir….ah, I   
really don't know what to tell you," the man stuttered looking at Bio   
Glass in stupification. "We cleared the museum out over half an hour   
ago, your girls aren't in there."

"You're an Arts major aren't you?" Glass asked suspiciously as she   
watched the little man suffer. "Ah, ah, ah, don't speak. Look," she   
said pointing to the line of Kennedy students lined up against the  
bus. "There, what do you see there?" she asked pointing to a gaping  
whole in the line.

"Nnnothing," the man stuttered.

"Exactly, that gaping void is where snap McPherson and snap  
McQueen should be," Glass replied moving closer to him so that she  
was now carrying out a full on invasion of his personal space. "Do   
you know why they aren't there?"

"Mmmight, might I suggest ma'am, sir, ma'am, si…might I suggest that  
they walked down the street to see Nsync at Radio City," he managed   
to emote, though it was quite a struggle.

The students lined up against the bus cringed as they heard this,   
cowering slightly and shielding their eyes. He should not have said   
that.

**Part Twelve**  
----------------

"Are you serious?" Sam asked barely able to control the laughter that   
was bubbling up inside of her. The visuals she was getting from  
Brooke's story were almost too much for even her not to bust out  
laughing at.

"Perfectly," Brooke responded smiling. "Raspberry Kool-aid. I had  
seen them do it on some show, probably Saved by The Bell or something   
equally retarded. The minute Dad saw it he made me march up stairs  
and was it out of my hair…but I'm telling you, for about half an hour   
there I was a living legend. Gem never looked so good," she  
continued smiling broadly.

Sam smiled back at her contentedly. "You know what I always wanted?"   
Sam started in rather wistful tone. "A tree house. In like every   
family show or children's novel they always had these kids in tree  
houses. It was like a staple of American society and I always  
resented not having one."

"Why didn't you build one?" Brooke asked curiously, tilting her head   
to observe Sam.

"Where?" Sam asked. "One of the palm trees at the beach?" she   
continued. "That's another thing. Have you ever been skiing? I  
always wanted to go skiing. Snow, and Yule logs and eggnog around a  
fire are more staples."

"We should go to Colorado for Christmas this year," Brooke replied   
thoughtfully. She could picture Sam all bundled up, holding a cup of  
hot something-or-the-other while being bathed in gentle glow of a  
fire. The image made something flutter inside of her, gave her a  
warm, happy feeling. "There's enough snow there for a life time of   
memories," she continued before pausing for a moment, then  
smiling. "I'll teach you what a snow job is."

"Nice try," Sam said shooting Brooke an exasperated look, "but I've  
heard of those." Brooke shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "Aspen?"   
Sam asked a second later.

"Where else?" Brooke asked in a way that gave Sam the distinct   
impression that she wasn't joking. To her surprise, and if she were  
honest to her amusement, she discovered that she found it  
inordinately cute.

"You're such a preppy," was what she said in response however as she   
shook her head.

"Back to your tree house," Brooke said deciding to get the subject   
off of her preppiness before they ended up bitching at each other  
again, "there were other options you know." She was enjoying talking  
to Sam, in fact she was enjoying talking to Sam more than she had   
enjoyed talking to anyone in a long time and she didn't want the mood  
in the room to shift. She found that being trapped in the closet  
lead to a pleasant fiction, a story where she and Sam were friends.  
She liked it.

"Such as?" Sam asked looking at Brooke expectantly.

"Cardboard boxes, they're always good, sometimes even better than  
what came inside of them. My personal preference was Maytag, very   
durable. You could have built yourself a small village," Brooke   
responded, a nostalgic smile spreading across her face as she spoke.

"Did your Dad suddenly come into money a few years ago or something?"   
Sam asked smiling at Brooke cheekily. Truthfully she had never  
pictured Brooke as a cardboard box kind of girl, she had always kind  
of assumed that Brooke would have been one of those My Little Ponies,   
or Barbie girls, with the house and pink convertible. In fact, the   
longer they talked the more Sam realized that she hardly knew  
anything about Brooke, but that the more she found out the more she   
liked.

"Very funny," Brooke responded although she didn't seem particularly   
amused. "Even preppies have to make do sometimes," she continued   
sighing a bit.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way," Sam said noticing the Brooke's   
defeated tone. "It's actually kind of," she began to say but she   
stopped herself. The truth was she found Brooke's sporadic displays  
of preppiness to amazing cute, but she had just begun to be able to   
admit that to herself and there wasn't anyway in hell that she was  
going to tell Brooke.

"Kind of what?" Brooke asked turning to face Sam, a look of curiosity   
covering her features.

"Nothing," Sam responded shifting uncomfortably.

"Come on Sam…Sammy," Brooke began testing the nickname out and   
deciding that she liked it. "You can't just nothing' that. You  
were far beyond the nothing' line, you've gotta tell," Brooke teased   
as she bobbed her body around excitedly.

"You pulled that rule outta your ass rather quickly," Sam replied,   
still shifting about. "I think we've discovered your superpower: the   
ability to produce copious amounts of bull-shit is a single bound." 

Brooke was silent for a moment, then turned away from Sam before  
lulling her head to the side and muttering resignedly, "And we were   
getting along so well."

Sam turned to watch the blonde after she spoke, the silence that now   
covered the room ringing in her ears painfully. She hadn't intended  
to, she didn't really want, she had only meant to…she had screwed up   
and she knew it. "I'm sorry," she said finally. She didn't want   
things to end like that because Brooke was right, they had been  
getting along so well.

"Are you? Really?" Brooke asked wearily turning to face her.

"Yes," Sam responded softly but adamantly. "It's a coping mechanism,  
I didn't mean it."

"I don't either, those things I've said to you…I never really meant   
them, it was just a reaction. I never hated you, in fact," Brooke   
paused there gathering courage, "in fact I always kinda found you   
interesting."

"Really?" Sam asked, her surprise showing in her voice. Brooke  
McQueen had always kind of found her interesting, that was new, new  
and greatly appreciated. The reality of the situation was that with  
what had happened since they had come into the closet, and with the  
way Sam was feeling, she knew she wouldn't have been able to keep up  
her façade of Brooke hating for much longer. But, if Brooke found   
her interesting, that meant that there was a chance that this truce  
they had entered into could be continued, and Sam would take being   
Brooke's friend over being nothing but a nuisance to the girl any day.

"Amazingly," Brooke replied. It was now her turn to shift  
uncomfortably.

"We should have done this before. Talked I mean," Sam said as she   
leaned her head back to rest against the door.

"Why didn't we?" Brooke asked. Sam wasn't sure whether the question   
was asked rhetorically or not, but she had an answer, and after  
Brooke's little revelation she decided it would only be far to share  
it.

"I think I know," Sam replied, her voice threaded with mystery.

"Don't be a drama queen. Spill it," Brooke responded lazily turning   
her head to face Sam.

"You're a bit of a gossip aren't you?" Sam asked. "Anyway, I think   
the reason was that I feared that if I got to know you I would like  
you, and if I liked you I wouldn't have been able to actively hate  
you, and if I was forced to stop viewing you as Satan the world as I  
knew it would have collapsed in on itself, leaving me broken and   
bewildered. Outfits I would rather not have worn."

Brooke was silent for a moment, contemplative before finally  
saying, "You say the sweetest things." She then looked down at her   
lap where her attention remained focused for a few moments before   
continuing with, "but seriously, I'm glad that you've gotten past the   
actively hating thing. Besides, red has never really been my  
colour." 

They sat in silence for a long time after that, both watching each  
other covertly until Brooke finally broke the silence.

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"Tell you what?" Sam asked looking over at the cheerleader.

"What you find my preppiness to be kind of. I know you thought that  
you had distracted me with your charm, and I admit that telling  
someone you no longer consider them to be a creature of pure evil  
would have worked on most mere mortals, but I'm on to you," Brooke   
answered meeting Sam's gaze.

"No." And Sam said no more than that. She knew that the subject was  
a slippery slope and she was just willing to take a slid. Brooke was   
just going to have to get over it.

"Fine," Brooke responded with a sniff. "I'm just going to read your   
boyfriends notes then…to give you time to reflect on your anti-  
socialness," she continued reaching out and picking up the manila  
folder, which had been resting beside Sam. Placing it on her lap she  
opened it up and licked the tip of her index finger before she began  
to leaf through the sheets of paper.

"He's not my boyfriend," Sam muttered as she watched Brooke take   
possession of her notes.

"You really should be ashamed of yourself. I know that younger men  
are in these days but, really," Brooke responded shaking her head   
sadly. "Sammy," she added shaking it some more to make sure she got  
her point across.

"Shut up."

"Give me your notes so I can piece this conspiracy together," Brooke   
said holding out her hand.

"I could make you some Cliff Notes if you're having problems," Sam   
replied saucily. Despite that however she handed her notes over  
willing to do most anything to get Brooke not to question her about  
her feelings on Brooke's preppiness anymore.

"Ha! Oh, wait, no," Brooke responded as she accepted the papers from   
Sam. "You know, you don't look like you're reflecting to me," she  
commented a moment later. Sam gave her the stink eye and Brooke  
shrugged, oh well.

**Part Thirteen****  
****----------------**

"Oooooh, now this is what I'm talking about!" Brooke exclaimed  
excitedly in a somewhat singsong voice, as she ran her eyes over the  
paper sitting in her lap.

"What?" Sam asked looking over at her curiously. Brooke had been  
quiet for the better part of twenty minutes as she flipped through  
Sam's notes. Occasionally she had asked her a question or two but  
for the most part she had been keeping herself busy, leaving Sam  
ample time to take in their quaint surrounds and to practice not  
staring at Brooke.

Brooked smiled and looked down at the piece of paper she had just  
been looking at. "'I had the dream again last night'," she began   
grinning as she read the words Sam had written. "A very promising   
beginning," she continued winking at Sam. In fact she was so caught  
up in the excitement of possibly learning about some of Sam's naughty   
bits that she didn't see the brunette's face immediately fall, or the   
pained expression that settled on it soon after.

"Give that to me," Sam stated as she reached out for the piece of   
paper. Silently she cursed herself, how could see have been so  
stupid. That morning she had been so preoccupied with thoughts of  
Brooke that she had taken a few free minutes after breakfast to write  
her thoughts down in hopes that it would get them out of her head.  
Once she had finished she had just shoved the paper in with the rest  
of her stuff, the stuff she handed over to Brooke.

"Grabby, grabby," Brooke responded playfully as she stood up so that  
Sam couldn't yank the paper out of her hand. "Come on, it's not so   
bad. Maybe I'll tell you mine…since I'll know yours in a minute."

"I'm serious Brooke, give it to me," Sam stated standing as well.   
She reached for the paper again but Brooke blocked her with her body,   
turning her back to Sam using her free arm as blocker while held the  
paper with her other arm as she read it.

Sam continued to struggle with Brooke, trying to find away around the   
blonde's body so that she could get the paper back, but Brooke  
determinedly blocked her again and again. Still, Sam couldn't give  
up, the thought of giving up and just letting Brooke read a diary  
entry that she made wherein she talked, and talked, and talked about  
the feelings she had for Brooke just wasn't an option for the   
brunette.

"I'm…I finished," Brooke said finally lowering her arm and relaxing   
her stance. Immediately Sam yanked the paper out of her hand, and  
they stood there watching each other. "Do you really think I have   
skin like silk?" Brooke asked finally.

Sam watched the blonde in a kind of stupor that was only broken when   
Brooke spoke. She heard the blonde's question, but it seemed  
distant, like it was coming from far, far away. She was having  
trouble breathing. Brooke had actually read the entire the entry,  
she had read it all, she knew everything. Sam turned and began to  
walk towards the door. She realized that there was no place to go,  
but she knew that she had to at least separate herself from Brooke.  
She figured Brooke would probably be grateful for the distance.

"Wait!" Brooke said as Sam started to walk away, quickly moving  
behind her and grabbing her gently by the shoulders.

"Why? So you can mock me some more?" Sam asked not turning around.   
She could feel the sting of tears in her eyes but she wouldn't give   
Brooke the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She couldn't.

"I was just," Brooke started hopelessly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't  
have," she continued trying to work through her jumbled up  
thoughts. "We were having fun," she continued softly, her hands   
still resting on Sam. "I was just," she went on stroking Sam's   
shoulders unconsciously.

"Please let go of me," Sam said interrupting Brooke's babbling, her   
voice remaining calm through nothing more than will power.

"Do you really want me to?" Brooke asked. She could feel the warmth   
of Sam's skin through her shirt, she could feel it warming her hands,   
and the scent of lavender, Sam's scent, had infiltrated her olfactory   
senses. She was hyper of everything that had to do with Sam, her  
smell, her feel, her breathing.

"That's not funny," Sam responded. She could feel herself beginning  
to crumble, she needed Brooke to let her go. She couldn't feel  
Brooke against her and remain strong, remain standing. She needed   
distance.

"It wasn't suppose to be," Brooke responded moving closer to Sam, so   
that now she was almost pressed up against the brunette's back. "Do   
you? Really want me to stop touching you? Because I don't want to   
stop."

"Brooke please," Sam said, she was begging, begging Brooke to stop   
torturing her, to just let her go. She was begging and she didn't  
care because she was moments away from breaking down. Why couldn't  
Brooke have just freaked out like a normal person? Why was she doing  
this, teasing her with something she couldn't have?

"I'm serious Sam…Sammy," Brooke breathed out softly. Still holding   
onto Sam she moved around so that she was standing in front of the   
brunette. "Lately," she began again in her new position, her hand   
slowly traveling up Sam's shoulder, "I've…what I mean is…ugh," she  
sighed in frustration, and closed her eyes trying to pull herself  
together. She placed her hands on the sides of Sam's face, and  
dipped her head slightly so that she was looking directly into Sam's  
big, beautiful, brown eyes. "You smell like lavender, when you're   
bored you stick you tongue into your cheek and when you're excited  
her rub your teeth with it. You can write with both of your hands,  
and your eyes have the most incredible little gold specks in them  
that absolutely break my heart. I know what you're feeling Sam, I  
know," Brooke said her voice cracking along the way. "Because I'm   
feeling it too."

Sam looked away, down at the dusty floor as Brooke finished  
speaking. Her face was wet, she hadn't even realized she had been  
crying. She was overwhelmed. She had just heard everything she had  
ever dreamed about hearing, but it didn't seem real, she wondered if  
her alarm clock were about to off. But then she felt it, warm  
fingers tilting her head back up, forcing her to meet Brooke's  
equally teary gaze. She was confused, Brooke had never cried in her   
dreams.

They stayed like that for long moments, staring into each other eyes,   
until finally Brooke impulsively leaned forward and softly, tenderly   
pressed her lips against Sam's, drawing the brunette into her body as  
their lips moved against each other. Sam's body shook gently as she  
felt Brooke's lips, tasted her for the first time. Her hands wound  
their way around Brooke's waist, clutching at her as the kiss  
deepened and their bodies pressed closer together, their kiss  
becoming salty as their tears ran down their faces.

**Part Fourteen****  
**----------------

Brooke watched as Sam's hand slowly made its way down from her  
collarbone to the swell of her breast where it then dipped down even  
further cupping the soft mound of flesh through her shirt and  
squeezing gently. Brooke's breath hitched, her eyes momentarily  
fluttering closed as Sam touched her, her own hand anxiously sneaking  
its way under Sam's shirt reveling in the feeling of Sam's warm skin   
pressed against her hand. Slowly, her hand trailed upward, taking  
Sam's shirt with it, until Brooke's hand reached the underside of  
Sam's breast, which she then began to delicately explore.

"Brooke," Sam breathed out softly as she looked down at the blonde's  
face. Somehow, though she wasn't exactly sure how, after Brooke had  
kissed her they had ended up falling down to the ground, Sam sitting  
on Brooke's lap, straddling her. That had been about fifteen minutes   
ago, and since then they hadn't spoken a word to each other, their  
only communication coming through the tiny sounds that they emitted  
and the looks and touches that they exchanged. But it had all come  
so suddenly, and Sam was beginning to wonder if it was real, because  
it seemed almost to good to be true; she needed Brooke to speak to  
her, to tell her that this was actually happening.

Brooke's eyes parted though they remained slightly hooded as she  
raised her head up so that she could see Sam's face. Brooke lifted  
the hand that wasn't still under Sam's shirt to the brunette's face,   
stroking her cheek softly with her thumb as a tender smile spread  
across her lips.

"We need to talk," Sam said as she leaned into Brooke's touch. To   
her surprise the smile and Brooke's face only grew, her eyes  
crinkling in the most adorable way as she continued to gaze at Sam.

"I think," the blonde finally said, shifting her position a bit so   
that her face was closer to Sam's – a maneuver that was far more   
complicated than it would seem at first since Sam was sitting on her –  
"that would be a…prudent course of action," she continued still   
staring at Sam.

Sam nodded, but she was finding it very difficult to  
concentrate. "We should probably stop touching each other," she said   
finally locating the source of her distraction. Brooke looked away  
for a moment, her eyes rolling up in head as if she were in deep   
thought, and for a second Sam thought that she might protest, but the  
blonde lowered her gaze a moment later watching as she extracted her  
hand from Sam's shirt.

"That's better," Sam declared, "this will be much more helpful to the  
talking."

Brooke, in response, raised her eyebrow at Sam, then looked down at  
her lap while clearing her throat.

"Oh right," Sam muttered raising herself up and off of Brooke so that  
she was sitting on the floor beside the blonde. There they sat  
together in an increasingly uncomfortable silence until finally Sam  
spoke again – to both of their great relief.

"So," Sam started, but apparently she hadn't thought ahead very far   
because she didn't add anything to that expect for an awkward head   
bob.

"So," Brooke repeated in an equally uncomfortable fashion. "We've   
never done THAT before," she continued wincing as the words came out   
of her mouth. She didn't think that she could have been any lamer if   
she had actually put effort into it.

"Yes," Sam agreed, "The hand up the shirt was new," she continued   
shaking her head. If things continued like this she figured that the  
rest of their stay in the closet was going to seem, very, very, very,   
long.

Brooke looked over at her when she said that, an expression of worry   
marring her features. The blonde reached over and took her  
hand. "Sam," she started very seriously. "Despite the fondling, I  
just totally want you to know that I respect you…you know as a  
person, and not just as…"

"A sex-monkey?" Sam supplied helpfully.

"First I would like to say that that just gave me a very disturbing   
visual," Brooke responded making a face, "and secondly, well yeah,"   
she continued shrugging her shoulders rather helplessly. "Not that   
you're not sex-monkey material, I mean your totally sex-monkey  
material, just not to me…not that I don't think of you in that way,  
because, well, the fondling, just I wouldn't use the term sex-monkey,   
because…"

"Brooke?" Sam asked interrupting the cheerleaders babbling. "I get  
it," she continued as a smile played across her lips. She was beyond   
charmed by the little display and it showed on her face.

"Good, cause I was starting to confuse myself," Brooke admitted   
shaking her head ruefully. "We're going to have to talk more than  
this aren't we?" she asked a moment later as she turned to face Sam.

"Yes," Sam responded noticing with a touch of amusement how Brooke's  
face fell, a pout forming on lips Sam now knew to be delicious.

"I'm going to have to tell you mine now aren't I?" Brooke asked   
remembering how she had taunted Sam earlier. Damn, she knew Sam was  
going to make her pay for that, but impulse control hadn't been her   
strongest attribute lately, so she decided that she shouldn't really  
have been surprised that she did it anyway.

"Yes," Sam responded smiling happily. She planned on making Brooke  
pay for taunting her earlier. The cheerleader really should have  
known better.

"You're not going to let me kiss you again until I tell you, are  
you?" Brooke asked barely managing to keep her voice from sounding as   
whiny as she was feeling.

"'Fraid not," Sam replied.

"Great," Brooke responded resigning herself to her fate. "Are you   
comfortable? This could take a while."

"Not yet," Sam answered shifting a bit closer to Brooke and resting   
her head on the blonde's shoulder. "Now I'm good."

"Great," Brooke muttered. "Where should I start?"

"Hmmm," Sam began thoughtfully. "How about you tell me about the  
time you first realized that you wanted my body," she suggested   
happily a moment later. Brooke sighed, this was going to be fun.

**Part Fifteen**  
--------------

Sam held Brooke's open palm in her hand, cradling the delicate  
appendage as she traced the lines of the blonde's hand gently, her  
finger practically hovering, barely grazing the flash beneath it.  
Sam could feel Brooke's eyes on her as the cheerleader silently  
watched her; she liked the feeling, it sent a hum of excitement  
through her body, warmed her over to feel Brooke's eyes on her,  
burning into her. She looked up meeting the blonde's clear blue eyes.

"You have the most delicate hands," Sam said softly, her voice   
holding a touch of wonder. "Looking at them, I feel like I could  
break them, but," as she said that Brooke moved her hand firmly   
grasping Sam's in her own, taking it captive, "they're so strong,"   
Sam continued a small smile playing across her lips. "I wonder…"

"You wonder what?" Brooke asked maintaining her hold on Sam's hand,   
stroking it absently as she waited for the journalist's response.

"I wonder if the same applies to the rest of you," Sam answered after  
a moment's hesitation. Brooke didn't respond right away, instead she   
dropped her gaze down to their joined hands, watching her own as they  
moved across Sam's skin.

"I don't know the answer to that," the cheerleader responded softly   
as she raised to eyes to meet Sam's once again. "Maybe," she   
continued dipping her head shyly, "maybe you'll help me find out."

"Really?" Sam asked genuinely curious. She had just spent the last  
fifteen minutes listening to Brooke tell her that at some point she  
had realized that her feelings for Sam had become more than sisterly,   
and that she had been rather alarmed by the development at first and   
tried to deny it, but that recently – said with a impish smile – she   
had become more comfortable with the way she was feeling. But even  
after listening to Brooke, Sam still wasn't really sure about  
anything other than the fact that Brooke found her as attractive as  
she found Brooke.

"I was being serious when I said you were more than a sex-monkey to   
me," Brooke said in a semi-serious tone, trying to keep the situation   
light but also convey to Sam the fact that she did want more than  
just someone to release stress with. "I'm not going to lie and tell   
you that I know with absolute certainty what's going inside of me,  
but I can tell you that I have feelings for you that are more than  
skin deep, and that I want to know what it is we could have together—  
if anything—because I think that this could be something special,"   
she finished watching Sam intently. "If you want that that is," she  
added suddenly, her brows drawing together. "I mean you never said…  
if you just…"

"Wanted a sex-monkey?" Sam offered helpfully.

"That term is going to be with us for a while isn't it?" Brooke asked   
rhetorically before shaking her head and focusing back on Sam. "But   
yeah."

"What if that was all that I wanted?" Sam asked watching Brooke   
carefully.

"Then," Brooke said pausing. Sam could she her eyes shifting around  
as she thought and found herself wondering what was going on in the   
beautiful head. "I'd let you," Brooke finally said.

"But you said…why?" Sam asked placing her hand on top of Brooke's,   
repossessing the blonde's hand as her own.

"Because, because I'd rather have you for a little while than not at  
all," Brooke replied haltingly, as if the words that were coming out  
of her mouth were a revelation even to her. "Certainly it wouldn't   
be the great follow-up to my last relationship that I was looking for   
but…" she left the sentence hanging. "Is that? What you want I  
mean. Purely physical?" she asked in a tone that Sam couldn't quite   
decipher. "In your dreams was I your sex-monkey?"

"No," Sam said shifting closer to Brooke. "And that's not what I   
wanted, want or would possibly want in the future," she continued   
looking right into Brooke's eyes, stressing each and every word so  
that there could be no doubt whatsoever as to the sincerity of her   
words.

"So what does this mean?" Brooke asked relieved to hear that Sam was   
interested in more than just her body, because frankly while she was  
certain she would have given it to the brunette she wanted more than  
just that and she knew she never would have been happy if she'd had  
to settle. "That you and I are interested in each other as people."

"That we're now going steady?" Sam suggested.

"That would make you my girl," Brooke replied smiling, as if she was   
testing out how the words would sound coming out of her mouth and  
deciding that she liked it a lot. "And if you're my girl," Brooke   
continued still smiling, but instead of finishing her sentence she  
leaned forward and pressed her lips against Sam's softly. Sam then  
leaned forward increasing the pressure and the intensity of their  
kiss, her hands making their way up Brooke's body and behind her neck  
and their lips crashed against each other again and again with a  
growing hunger.

"I think," Sam said, still trying to catch her breath as they broke   
apart. "That I'm going to like being your girl," she continued as a  
sexy grin spread across her lips.

"Good," Brooke replied. "I'm glad we're agreed on this. Now," she   
said smiling herself, "I would like to request some more sugar," she  
continued barely managing to get the words out before Sam took  
possession of her lips once more.

**Part Sixteen**  
---------------

"What is it?" Brooke asked feeling a slight shudder run through Sam's   
body. It was now just past three in the morning and the hustle and  
bustle of the day was beginning to catch up with both of them.  
Brooke was leaned propped up against the door and a shelving unit and  
Sam was sitting in-between her legs. "Don't tell me your   
uncomfortable."

"I'm very comfortable," Sam responded, "in fact you're better than a  
futon."

"That's lovely," Brooke responded glaring at the top of Sam's  
head. "Are you cold?" she asked feeling another shiver run through  
Sam's body.

"No, just thinking about how much shit we're going to be in when they   
find us in the morning," Sam said shuddering once again.

"I hadn't thought of that, but now I am, and…" Brooke shuddered   
too. "They're going to call our parents. You are going to be in so   
much trouble," Brooke continued.

"What do you mean me'?" Sam asked. "As far as I'm aware I'm not the  
only one is this room. What about you?"

"I'll probably get an award for being such a concerned bus buddy and   
following you into doom and misfortune," Brooke responded. "The   
school will probably create a new award just for me, the McQueen  
Medallion or something more grandiose."

Sam paused for a second then said, "Now that you've had time to   
rejoin me on the planet earth, what do you think is really going to   
happen?" Sam asked a moment later.

"I'd prefer not to think about it if it's all the same to you,"   
Brooke replied as she ran her hands up and down Sam's arm lightly.

Sam smirked then shifted up a little so that her lips were hovering  
by Brooke's neck where she planted the gentlest of kisses. Brooke   
leaned her head down, capturing Sam's lips in an equally tender   
embrace.

"Sam," she said when they separated and Sam's head was once again  
resting on her shoulder.

"Ummm," Sam mumbled.

"I'm sleepy," Brooke related blinking rapidly in an attempt to keep her  
eyes open.

"Me too," Sam admitted with a sigh. "I didn't get much sleep last  
night."

"Hmph," Brooke emoted, surprisingly able to make even her grunts  
carry a touch of amusement. "I wonder why?"

"Shut up," Sam muttered knowing exactly what Brooke was thinking. 

"Don't be grouchy, I'm sure that it was good for both of us," Brooke   
continued smiling as she rested her head against Sam's. The  
brunette's response was merely to focus though brown orbs at her and  
place an expression on her face that clearly said you're really  
gonna wanna shut up now'. Brooke smiled, she would shut up…but only   
because Sam was her girl.

**Part Seventeen: Day Three**  
---------------------------------

The Kennedy students silently trekked through the empty early morning   
hallways of the Museum of Modern Art. Brooke and Sam were still  
missing and they had been woken up extra early but an especially  
surly Bio Glass. A security guard at the museum had gone over the  
tapes for the museum and had found evidence of Sam and Brooke moving   
through the museum about ten minutes before closing time, but had  
found no footage of them at any of the exits, which meant they were  
still in the museum somewhere. So, with that evidence in hand, Glass  
had dragged everyone back to the museum to begin The Search for Spock…  
I mean, Brooke and Sam.

"We've checked all of the washrooms and closets on the first floor,"   
Security guard Bob was saying to Bio as they all marched through the   
hallways. "Our next stop is on the second floor, the janitorial  
closet by the Pollack exhibit. If we don't have any luck there,  
there are three washrooms, and a maintenance closet that still have  
to be checked."

Bio simply snared at the man in response.

"In that case…here we are," Bob said fumbling with his keys, not   
ashamed to admit that the teacher to his side was terrifying him more  
than any person he had ever meet before in life. "Let's just open   
this up and…" Security guard Bob jumped back slightly as the door   
flew open. Out of the doorway rolled two girls, one blonde and one   
brunette. "Huh, looks like we found your…" but he was interrupted by  
a shrill shrieking sound originating from somewhere behind him.

"OH MAH GOD!" Mary Cherry yelled. "She's killed Brookie!" the  
southerner continued pointing at Sam who had rolled out of the closet  
on top of Brooke and was the first of the two of them to begin to  
wake up. "With those damn dirty whore hands of hers she has   
strangled the life out of our dear precious one," Mary Cherry  
continued as tears ran down her face leaving mascara trails in their   
wake.

"What the…" Sam muttered beyond disoriented, however despite that   
having the presence of mind to roll off of a now waking up Brooke and  
into a sitting position beside her before anymore could verbally  
wonder what the hell she was doing on top of Brooke in the first   
place.

Brooke raised her hand to her face and rubbed at her eyes sleepily.  
What a freaky dream she had been having, she was Kenny from South  
Park and Mary Cherry was yelling at some unfortunate soul accusing  
them of murder. Brooke shook her head as she forced her eyes open  
that was a damn weird dream. Stretching, she opened her eyes.

"Ahhhhhhh!" the cheerleader screamed bolting upright and scrambling  
to her feet in a panic. Upon opening her eyes she was greeted to the   
sight of a scowling Bio Glass whacking a ruler against her hand. An  
image that was just too disturbing for words.

"Nice of you to join us McQueen," Glass said eyeing a now upright   
Brooke like one of the worms they dissected in class. "Now if you're   
through demonstrating to the class that you do indeed wake up minty  
fresh, we have more important matter to attend to," she went on   
slapping the ruler against her hand once again. Brooke shifted  
uncomfortably and turned her attention to Sam who was of no help  
whatsoever as she was involved in a detailed examination of her  
shoe. The cheerleader sighed, this was just going to be the best  
morning ever!

**Part Eighteen**  
--------------------

"It wasn't so bad," Sam said as she lay back on the bed. She was   
absolutely exhausted. After she and Brooke had been freed from the  
closet, they had remained at the museum for a few more hours to  
straighten things out with the curator, then it had been onto the bus  
were they were verbally accosted by Bio Glass for the entire ride  
back to the hotel. That's when things got rough. Upon arriving at  
the hotel they were forced to call their parents and explain why they   
had gotten a call the other night telling them that their daughters  
had disappeared. Following that very painful conversation Glass  
grounded them confining them to the hotel where they were to remain  
as punishment until further notice. Following this announcement  
Brooke had been dragged by a raging Nicole up to her suite while  
Carmen, Lily and Harrison followed Sam to her room to badger her to   
death.

"What do you mean it wasn't so bad?" Carmen responded dropping onto   
the bed and consequently shaking Sam about. "You can't just say it   
wasn't so bad and leave it at that. You and Brooke were trapped in a   
confined space for an extended period of time and nobody sustained  
serious injury. That's something, that's more than not so bad,  
that's a freaking miracle," she continued her voice rising in   
excitement as she went on.

"She's not so bad," Sam stated simply, trying to contain the smile  
the mere mention of Brooke's name threatened to bring to her face.

"You once said that she was a creature of pure evil," Harrison   
pointed out. "You were so flustered that you said that she couldn't  
be any eviler on the evilest day of the year if she had an  
electrified evil machine," he continued snickering at the  
description. That one had had him in stitches for days.

"Not my finest moment," Sam replied calmly, so calmly in fact that   
she was beginning to freak her friends out. "Still, Brooke's   
alright."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sam?" Lily observing   
Sam suspiciously. Sam could tell that she was suspicious because her   
eyes narrowed and her lips thinned, and she started to look really   
constipated.

"I'm Sam and nobody's done anything to Sam because being Sam I would  
know if something happened to Sam, which it didn't cause I'm Sam and  
I know that nothing happened to Sam…I mean me, I mean…well you know   
what I mean," Sam responded her brows scrunching together as she   
tried to make sense of her own sentence before she decided that she  
didn't really care.

"Alright, we'll assume that you're not some sort of Sam-bot…for the  
moment," Carmen began, "but the fact still remains that you and  
Brooke, sworn enemies, the closest thing that I've ever seen in real-  
life to comic book style arch enemies, are getting along. You were  
like Archie and Reggie, now you're like Betty and Veronica. This is   
strange, this demands an explanation, an explanation we are still  
waiting for" she concluded.

"We just had nothing to do in there but talk," Sam responded with a   
rather exasperated sigh. "I mean, as much as I bitched about her it   
wasn't like if given the opportunity I really would have gone all  
medieval on her ass or something. We just decided that it would be  
better if we tried not aggravate each other, and that led to talking,  
and talking led to the realization that our fighting was more  
posturing than loathing, and that well we can get along pretty well  
when we want to," she continued turning to survey them. "Come on,  
this isn't like learning that I'm a crime fighter by night, or that  
Glory is god. You guys should be happy, you always said I should  
give her a chance, now I have and I'm admitting that she's not a  
demon spawn. You win, this is probably the only time you're going to  
hear me speak those words, so absorb or inhale or revel or whatever."

Silence.

Sam raised her head and looked around at them.

"What?" Carmen asked. "We're reveling. Look at us revel." Sam   
looked, but to her reveling looked an awful lot like sitting.

"Don't you three have a Disney movie cum-Broadway production to go  
get dressed for? The circle of life is quickly spiraling by it, and   
it'll be a good two or four years, cause even numbers seem so much  
more symmetrical, before it'll be back," was Sam's response. It was   
funny, she had only been away from Brooke for about an hour but it  
already seemed like a lifetime. This being the case, she wanted her   
love-den…um, room to be free of interlopers when the apple of her eye   
returned.

"She's right!" Lily exclaimed jumping up. "We have to get ready. I   
have to prepare my notes," she continued tugging on Carmen's arm   
trying to get her to stand up.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Harrison asked as he opened the   
door just in time for an arriving Brooke to squeeze by him and into  
the room.

"Positive," Sam responded watching as the blonde crossed in front of  
her bed.

"Alright, we'll see you later then," he said stepping out of the  
door. "And ladies, please behave," he added before shutting the door  
and taking off down the hall behind Lily and Carmen.

"Who knew having friends could be such a drag on one's social life?"   
Brooke asked sighing dramatically as she flopped down onto the bed  
next to Sam. "I mean really, it's like they think I have nothing   
better to do. Of course as far as they know I did have nothing  
better to do…but you and I know better don't we?" she continued   
turning her head so that she was looking at Sam.

"How'd it go?" Sam asked smiling at Brooke fondly, she liked it when   
Brooke was goofy like that, it made her eyes seem to twinkle and left  
her mouth permanently unturned in the cutest way, like she couldn't  
get enough of her own wit and charm. It was an expression that Sam  
would have found terribly narcissistic on anyone else, but that  
disarmed her coming from Brooke.

"It wasn't so bad, I was verbally assaulted by Mary Cherry who was   
somehow under the impression that my stay in the closet had damaged  
my hearing and therefore felt the need to stand beside me and yell   
directly into my ear whenever she spoke, and Nicole kept sniffing me  
in a way that was really quite creepy muttering how she could smell   
Spam on me, but other than that it went well I think," Brooke replied   
as her eyes drifted to the ceiling. "I got a manicure and a facial."

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Uh huh. Apparently I deserved something extra special for the  
trauma that I went through last night," Brooke responded grinning at   
Sam. "And you know what they say about…something about gift mouths   
and horses…" she went on trailing off as she became distracted by   
Sam's smile and felt the need to watch it and be warmed.

"Actually," Sam said shifting forward so that she and Brooke were  
lying pressed up against each other. "The saying," she started   
brushing her lips against Brooke's, "goes" she said before extending   
her tongue and licking the blonde's bottom lip, "don't," she went on  
arching her body against Brooke's teasingly, "look, a gift horse in  
the mouth," she concluded before pressing her lips against Brooke's   
drawing the blonde into a deep, passionate kiss that left them both   
breathless.

"You know," Brooke started running her hand up Sam's side once they   
broke away, "I'm pretty sure that I could mess up a few more sayings   
if you'll correct me like that every time." Her lips were now   
hovering just in front of Sam's, the air between them filled with   
electricity. "There was something about there always being other  
fish in your tea. I always found that one strange."

"Sea, other fish in the sea," Sam corrected dipping her head down   
where she trailed a line of kisses down Brooke's neck.

"That definitely makes more sense," Brooke responded in a half moan   
as she leaned her head back to give Sam better access. "What about   
that one about education being the key to good dress?"

"Success," Sam whispered as her hand found its way under Brooke's  
shirt. "Education is the key to success," she continued as she hand  
explored the soft skin of Brooke's stomach while her lips returned to  
work on her neck.

"And the early bird gets the perm?" Brooke asked her breath coming in   
short gasps.

"Brooke?" Sam asked as she nudged Brooke to the side and rolled on  
top of her. "Shut up," she continued before capturing taking the  
blonde's willingly lips captive.

**Part Nineteen**  
-----------------

Sam sensuously extended her tongue, her eyes sparkling with unspoken   
promise. Keeping those eyes locked on Brooke's Sam then slowly  
flicked her tongue upwards clearing a path on the strawberry Brooke  
was holding which was otherwise covered in whip cream. Brooke gasped  
and Sam smiled wickedly, lowering her mouth once more to take the  
entire strawberry in, sucking on it until every trace of whip cream  
was removed. Then she sumptuously bit down on the fruit, moaning   
gratuitously as she chewed on it, leaving a gaping, shallow breathed  
Brooke staring at her in wonder.

"That is like the most amazing thing I've even seen," Brooke managed   
to chock out as she watched Sam lick her lips.

"This is much better than the Lion King isn't it?" Sam asked, a   
playful yet sexy smile spreading across her face.

"Oh yeah," Brooke responded leaning forward and bringing their lips   
together, the taste of strawberries mixed with Sam's natural flavor  
sending a shiver through her body. It truly amazed her what Sam was  
able to do to her body, the feelings the brunette was able to inspire  
in her. When they weren't touching—which was very, very rarely—  
Brooke was over taken by the need to write bad poetry about her, and  
it excited Brooke to no end because she had never felt the need to   
write bad poetry before and she liked the feeling.

Sam leaned back, falling against the mattress as Brooke leaned into  
and then over her. She could sense the blonde's excitement, feel her   
body humming more and more as their embrace continued. She felt  
Brooke's hand make its way under her shirt and begin to slide up her  
torso. She body arched up, and anxiously she sought out Brooke's  
lips, desperately needing to feel connected to her, to feel her   
passion.

"Sam," Brooked groaned dropping her down onto the brunette's  
shoulder, "being this close to you is doing things to me."

"What kinds of things?" Sam asked as her hands ran up Brooke's sides   
and across her back.

"Naughty things, I'm wanting to touch," Brooke responded raising her   
head and looking down at Sam, "more and more of you," she continued  
her eyes lowering to take in what was exposed of Sam's body. "And I   
know that we've just started to…explore what's happening between us,   
and that things are progressing rather quickly, and that if I'm to  
avoid an excruciating number of cold showers…"

"We should probably watch one of the ten dollar movies on Cinemax and   
finish our dinner?" Sam interjected.

"Well, yeah, I mean to quote the great philospher Monica I should make  
a move but I won't, I know you're probably thinking something is   
wrong, knowing if I do that it won't be right, I wanna get down, but  
not the first night'" Brooke responded, her lip quivering it the   
sweetest of ways as she recited the lyrics. "I mean, I know lying on  
top of you, groping you probably constitutes making a move, but the  
rest of it…" she continued trailing off.

"The getting down part?" Sam asked watching Brooke carefully.

"Yeah, that part," Brooke replied meeting Sam's gaze.

"You don't wanna do that part?" Sam asked her eyes still trained on   
Brooke but her face revealing nothing.

"No, I wanna do that part, I wanna do that part so much that I'm in   
actual physical pain here. I was just thinking that, we probably  
shouldn't rush…."

"I know," Sam replied leaning forward and bringing her lips to   
Brooke's softly. "You're right, I was just playing with you…old  
habits die hard you know," she continued grinning. "And just so you  
know," Sam continued as she extended her arm to the side groping  
around for and then finding the remote, "I really, really wanna do   
that part to."

Brooke smiled and rolled off of Sam, sighing and starring at the  
ceiling. "We're not watching anything with Steven Segal in it."

"Even when we were pretending to dislike each other I would never  
have inflicted such a horror upon myself simply to torture you," Sam   
responded flipping the television on with a smirk. Brooke placed her  
hands behind her head smiling herself while wondering why it had  
taken her so long to realize that Sam was an original and utterly   
fantastic.

**Part Twenty**  
--------------

Sam sighed rolling her eyes dramatically before allowing her head to   
flop down onto the table top with a dull thud. Harrison, Lily and  
Carmen were sitting around her badgering her, just like they had been  
since breakfast. She couldn't even find it amusing in an annoying  
sort of way anymore she just wanted it to end.

"Oh my god, will you give it a rest already!" Sam finally said in a   
highly exasperated tone. "It's not that big of a deal. I thought  
that we already went through this."

"Bu…but that was before," Carmen sputtered.

"Before what?" Sam asked tiredly knowing that she didn't really want  
to know.

"You, you, you, smiled at her," was Carmen's response. "And you two  
spoke in sentences where the word bitch' wasn't used, not even  
once. You're really getting along. Really," she went on sounding  
more and more distressed as she continued. "I…we…it…huh!"

"Oh good lord," Sam said pushing away from the table and standing   
up. "I'm going over there now," she said pointing vaguely to   
somewhere on the other side of the room. "I want none of you to join   
me."

"She's not a witch," Brooke stated in an increasingly exasperated   
tone. 

"There's no other logical explanation for what's happened. Don't be  
so narrow minded Brookie, there are things in this world that just   
can't be explained by anything other than dark occult forces, like  
the popularity of Sabrina the Teenage Witch," Nicole responded   
resting her elbows on the table and leaning towards Brooke  
challengingly while Mary Cherry nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Really she's not that bad," Brooke said ignoring Nicole's  
tirade. "She's really smart, and funny, and if you don't provoke her   
she can be really…"

"Mary Cherry, are you hearing this? My god, what has she done to you   
Brookie? Poor, sweet, simple Brooke," Nicole went on turning to Mary   
Cherry. "Her naive little mind just couldn't hold up against the she-  
demons constant assaults."

Brooke gaped at Nicole for a moment, truly shocked at the words that  
were coming out of the blonde's mouth. She may have been a lot of  
things, but simple wasn't one of them. Then as if that wasn't bad  
enough Mary Cherry decided to add her fifty cents to the  
conversation. Finally Brooke just leaned back surveying the room  
around them while Nicole and Mary Cherry discussed what a lost cause  
she was and how they might be able to save her soul.

"Where are you going?" Nicole asked suddenly noticing Brooke push  
back from the table and stand up.

"My master awaits," Brooke responded with a slight smile as she   
turned and looked in the direction Sam had just taken off in. "But   
don't give up on me, you two seemed to be onto something a minute  
ago." 

With that she walked over to Sam who had settled herself against the  
side of one of the rooms pools tables.

"Do you play, or is it all about the look?" Brooke asked settling   
next to Sam.

"Oh, I'm the real deal," Sam responded keeping her eyes trained on   
something in the distance.

"Prove it," Brooke said moving off to the side and picking up two  
pool cues.

"I don't think you can handle me," Sam said accepting the cue   
nonetheless.

"We'll see," Brooke said softly raking her eyes over Sam  
thoughtfully. "Let's hope not."

Feeling herself start to flush under Brooke's heady eyes, Sam moved  
to the other end of the table silently setting up the balls. When  
she was done she looked over to Brooke indicating that she could  
break, then she stepped back from the table watching as Brooke slowed   
leaned over the table, her eyes never leaving Sam's.

Sam jumped slightly, the sound of the balls scattering jarring her  
out of her daze. The thing she remembered was watching Brooke lick  
her lips, before they parted slightly in preparation for her strike.   
Focusing on Brooke again Sam saw her grinning at her mischievously.

"I'm solid," was all the blonde said, then she moved over to Sam's   
side of the table brushing up against the brunette's back as she  
walked past her. "Six ball, corner pocket."

**Part Twenty-One**  
--------------------

Lily ran a hand through her hair nervously as she eyed the girl  
beside her. She wasn't so sure about this. It wasn't that she  
really disagreed with Carmen's interpretation of the text, in fact  
she fully agreed with it, it was just that what the taller girl was   
proposing was kind of illegal.

"Carm, I'm not so sure about this," Lily said finally.

"Thank you," Harrison said pointing at Lily. "See, she thinks you're  
insane too. I mean, I didn't really want to use the i' word but,  
well, somebody had to say it."

"Actually," Lily interjected. "I kinda do agree with her. I'm just  
not to keen on the breaking and entering."

"You agree with her?" Harrison asked, his eyes widening. "Come on  
Lily, this is Brooke and Sam we're talking about. They're not that  
way. I think that I know a little something about the lesbian way of   
life, living with two of them and all, and I think I can safely say  
that Brooke and Sam aren't," he went on. "Trust me."

"This doesn't have anything to do with trust. And it's not like  
baldness, you can't just tell by looking at someone," Carmen  
responded. "And we're not doing anything wrong, we just have to get  
Sam away from Brooke for a while so we can talk to her."

"I'm not doing it," Harrison said holding up his hands.

"Lily?" Carmen asked looking at the smaller girl with an expression  
that conveyed that either way she was going to go ahead with her plan.

"Okay," Lily said sighing. She couldn't let Carmen go it alone, and   
truthfully she didn't really want to miss out on what she was sure  
was going to be a juicy conversation.

Mary Cherry turned around her full-length mirror once more carefully   
studying her reflection.

"Nic," she asked turning around, her brows crunched together in  
thought. "Do theez pants make mah ass look big?"

Nicole sighed as she pulled on her DKNY leather all-purpose  
gloves. "No Mary Cherry, the fact that your ass is big makes your  
ass look big."

Mary Cherry turned back to the mirror with a frown. "Whah do yah haf   
to be so cruel?"

"Come on, we've got a head cheerleader to save," Nicole said heading   
for the door. "It's going to be a dirty job," the short - haired  
blonde said seriously, her hand hovering over the doorknob. "And  
we're lucky to be the ones to do it. Now move!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lily tugged at her ski mask for what had to have been the billionth  
time in the three-minute time span it took her and Carmen to get from   
their room to Sam's. Slipping her hand underneath the woolly  
material, she fully intended to rip it off of her face when she felt  
a hand grasp hers. Carmen was holding her hand with her left hand   
while her right hand was raised up to her lips in the  
universal ssssh' gesture. Lily sighed, as Carmen let go of her hand  
and took a step back.

"This is ridiculous!" She exclaimed only to have a hand clamped over   
her mouth. Wrenching Carmen's hand off of her face, Lily looked at  
the taller girl rather peevishly. "What are we doing!" she   
continued, this time in a softer voice. "Look at us, we look like  
rejects from I Spy! Sam is our friend, we should just knock on the  
door and…"

"Sssh," Carmen interjected putting up her hand.

"I don't think that that was necessary. I was merely saying that…"   
Lily tried to explain but Carmen interrupted her again.

"Sssh," the taller brunette repeated again. "Listen to that."

Lily was silent for a moment as leaned her ear in the direction  
Carmen pointed. At first she didn't hear anything, but then she  
could detect a faint scratching sound, and what sounded like whispers.

"What is that?" Lily asked turning her attention back to the other   
girl.

"Only one way to find out," Carmen responded rounding the corner.

"Southern Comfort to Mrs. Deville, Southern Comfort to Mrs. Deville…  
ovah," Mary Cherry whispered into the walkie-talkie clutched in her  
hand, as she ducked her head around from side to side suspiciously.

"Are you sure your parents aren't related?" Nicole whispered harshly   
as she yanked the Southerner down into a crouching position. It was  
so hard to find competent help these days. "Just shut that vacuous   
hole you call a mouth for a moment won't you, I'm almost done."

"Awr you shur that these pants don't make mah ass look big?" Mary   
Cherry asked unaware that Nicole had even spoken. She had learned  
that you didn't really need to listen to what Nicole was saying, you  
just had nod your head and agree with her vigorously. So, with that   
knowledge in mind, she had turned to a detailed examination to see  
what her own buttocks looked like in a crouched position.

"Didn't I just tell you to shut your…" Nicole started to say,   
momentarily turning her attention away from the lock picks in her  
hand, when she froze. Curse, Mary Cherry and her loud, grating  
voice. The Southerner had managed to distract her just long enough  
for the doofus twins to locate them.

Quickly standing up, Nicole made her way over to Lily and Carmen  
before the halfwits could open their mouths and alert someone to  
their presence. Stupid Bio Glass and her bloody strict curfew.  
Slapping a hand over Carmen's mouth and dragging her back around the  
corner into the stairwell, Nicole watched as Mary Cherry grabbed Lily  
and did the same. Once safely hidden away in the concrete well,  
Nicole and Mary Cherry removed their hands from over the brunettes  
mouths and stepped back, making mental notes to buy some anti-  
bacterial soap before bringing their hands anywhere near their own  
flesh again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Brooke continued to move backwards until she felt backs of her legs  
hit the bed. Turning around to look at the object that had impeded  
her back peddling, she steadied herself then turned her attention  
back to Sam, who was watching her with a debaucherous grin on her  
face. Brooke smiled down at her momentarily before ducking her head   
forward and capturing Sam's lips with her own, as the brunette gave  
one last push sending them both toppling down onto the bed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Listen Krispy Crème," Nicole stated sticking her finger in Carmen's  
face and waving it around for good measure. "You and Cousin It were   
sneaking around down there, so don't even think about hauling your  
fat ass up on to a soapbox and lecturing me!" the shorthaired blonde   
continued. "There are two ways this meeting can end, my way and my  
way, so listen closely. We're both after the same thing here, to  
find out what's going on with Cinderella and the soon to be step-  
troll, so we could as well work together. Now, before we were so  
rudely interrupted, I was about 5.3 seconds away from getting that  
lock open, so you two can either come quietly, or Mary Cherry can  
show you how they handled interlopers on her uncle's hog farm. So,  
what's it gonna be?"

"We'll be right back," Carmen whispered grabbing Lily by the arm and   
pulling her to the other end of the stairwell.

Nicole watched with growing boredom as they argued with each other,   
Carmen's hands waving in the air and pointing at her palm before,  
they finally seemed to come to an agreement.

"We accept the conditions of your proposal," Carmen said coming back   
over to Nicole. "Now let's get the hell over with, you two are   
giving me hives."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you hear something?" Brooke asked, though she herself was   
becoming more and more distracted the more Sam's hand crept up her   
shirt.

"Only you," Sam responded. "I want to hear more of that, only this  
time along the lines of ummm ohhhh'" Sam continued making the   
appropriate faces to go along with her sound effects.

"You're a dirty girl aren't you?" Brooke asked with a smile, her   
worries about mysteries noises long forgotten. "I like that."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Snapping the lid of her lock pick set closed Nicole stood up and  
turned around to face the girls assembled behind her. Mary Cherry  
seemed to be using her compact mirror to look at Lily's ass, while  
Lily orbited Carmen's body trying to escape Mary Cherry tyrannical   
grasps. Nicole sighed, freaks and losers surrounded her. Whatever  
had she done to deserve this?

"If you all are quite finished now," she began in a harsh  
whisper. "Our friends await."

Carefully opening the door, Nicole led the pack of girls inside of  
the darkened hotel room, closing the door quietly once everyone was   
inside. Moving slightly to the side she carefully extended her hand  
and began to feel along the wall for a light switch, a wicked smile   
working its way across her face as her finger connected with the  
stub. 

Just then she heard a nose emerge from the darkness of the room. It  
was a noise Nicole knew well, it was a sexual, desperate, highly  
aroused moan. Deciding right then and there, that she absolutely had  
to put a stop to whatever was going Nicole flicked her finger and the   
lights turned on, showering everything in the room with bright,   
embarrassing light.

Lily and Carmen's mouths dropped open as the stood thunderstruck at  
the sight that greeted them once Nicole had flipped on the light  
switch. The scene that greeted them simply too much for their non-  
payperview watching minds to grasp. Sam and Brooke, together, on the  
bed. Clothes rumpled, and hands, hands in naughty, naughty places.  
They could see Brooke's bra, Sam's mouth was hovering over it, they  
were, they were doing stuff. Yes, Lily and Carmen stood watching the  
scene in front of them thunderstruck. It was too much, where oh  
where had the coy glances stage gone?

Sam's head whipped around, and Brooke's raised off of the bed as they   
blinked against the suddenly light filled room, which they could just   
blurrily make out as now filled with people.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mary Cherry yelled falling to her knees, her  
hands coming up to grasp the hair at the front of her head as she  
stared up at the ceiling. "WHAH? OH DEAR GAWD WHAH? TAKE ME! TAKE  
ME!" she cried looking back over at the bed, dark mascara streaks now   
marring her features. "Whah do they great ones leave us so young?"   
she whaled her body shaking.

Brooke blinked as the Southerners harsh cries filled the room, her  
stupor finally breaking. Working her way out from underneath Sam she  
jumped off the bed and practically flung herself at Mary Cherry  
clamping a hand over her mouth.

"My god Mary Cherry," she whispered harshly. "SHUT UP. You're going  
to wake up the whole floor!" Brooke continued looking around   
desperately, barely noticing Sam also getting off of the bed and  
walking towards their visitors.

Finally when Brooke was fairly certain that Mary Cherry wouldn't  
erupt into a screaming fit again she removed her hand and stood up,   
backing away from the still cowering Southerner.

"Does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Sam   
asked once the room became blanketed in silence once more, her gaze   
leveled at Lily and Carmen who had the good decency to look shamed.

"You should know the answer to that question better than anyone  
shouldn't you Spam?" Nicole asked, her arms folded across her chest,  
as she surveyed the play unfolding in front of her with a detached   
fascination.

"I don't believe you!" Brooke erupted pointing at Nicole as she   
spotted the small pouch in her hand and recognized it for what it  
was. "You picked the lock didn't you?"

"Ah, Brookie," Nicole said sweetly looking over at the wispy haired   
blonde. "You might wanna," she continued waving a lazy hand to   
indicate Brooke's semi-torso, "before lighting into me."

Looking mildly confused Brooke lowered her gaze, her eyes widening  
when she realized what Nicole was referring to. "Holy god!" she   
muttered, beyond mortified to realize that she wasn't wearing a  
shirt. Quickly turning around so that her back was to their visitors  
she began to scan the room.

"Where's my shirt?" she asked, her voice raising an octave or so as  
she looked over at Sam.

"I don't know," Sam responded her voice rising as well, as her   
attention was torn between Brooke and Lily who was now looking at  
Brooke with an interest Sam didn't appreciate.

"Where's my shirt?" Brooke repeated again, getting desperate now.  
She was painfully aware of how underdressed she was, and she wanted  
her shirt back now.

"I dunno," Sam repeated once more, now torn between scanning the room  
herself and watching Mary Cherry in amazement as the girl diligently   
reapplied the make-up she had ruined earlier.

"You're the one that took it…" Brooke trailed off, as she remembered   
that there were other people in the room.

"Brookie," Nicole said, practically singing her name. "Over there,"   
she said waving her hand in the direction of the vanity mirror, where   
horror of horrors, Brooke's shirt was hanging precariously on the   
corner.

"What'd you use to play softball?" Brooke asked shooting Sam a look   
before self-consciously removing her shirt from its resting place  
and drawing it over her head.

"Tut, tut Brookie," Nicole piped up as Brooke pulled down her shirt,   
finally covering all of her yummy regions. "Those who cop feels off  
of other women shouldn't lob stones," she continued observing Brooke  
with a shrewd smile on her face. "Basketballs maybe, after all,   
considering your new hobby and height the WNBA might just be your   
calling."

"Get out," Brooke said whipping around to face Nicole, her face a   
study in barely controlled rage.

"I'm not so sure you really want me to do that," Nicole said rising   
up to her full height and stepping

forward so that she was only a  
meter away from Brooke. "Because after the terrible trauma I just   
suffered, if you cast me out I might just be forced to call everyone  
I've ever met and share the horror that was you groping Spam  
McPherson with them."

Brooke opened her mouth as if to respond when Nicole finished then  
promptly closed it again. She really hadn't even begun to  
contemplate possibly hypothetically conceiving responses for Nicole  
finding out about her and Sam, and bam, here it was right in front of  
her. Previously she had been functioning on mortification and  
indignation to guide her, but they had left her now leaving  
befuddlement in their wake.

"You wouldn't," Brooke said, but not only did the statement come out   
sounding more like a question, Brooke also looked confused as if she  
wasn't really certain what was coming out of her mouth.

"You!" Mary Cherry exclaimed extending an accusing finger in Sam's   
direction. "Look at what ya've done ya no neck little monsta! Damn  
bastard chald, ya've gone n' broke Brookie with damn dirty whore  
hands!" the southerner continued waving at Brooke who was still in a   
stupefied stated.

Sam whipped around to face Mary Cherry, her features covered in  
outrage. "What!" she yelled at the blonde. "And don't think that  
I can't see you!" Sam yelled pointing at Lily and Carmen who had been  
trying to ease themselves towards the door for a hasty escape before  
the situation could get any worse. "You two of all people," Sam   
continued turning her attention away from Mary Cherry for a  
moment. "Working with Satan and Tweedle Dumb, have you suddenly gone   
stupid! How could you do this? Will you still own your first born  
or was that the price for this little congregation of horrors!" 

"We were just coming to talk, then Nicole kidnapped us and threatened  
to have Mary Cherry hog tie us if we didn't keep quiet and come along   
peaceably," Carmen blurted out pointing at Nicole who merely rolled  
her eyes extremely bored. "We were just coming to say hi, see how   
the incarceration was coming along, we don't know…that is to say if   
had thought that…you know stuff would be happening…with you…we, you   
know wouldn't have, and did I mention we were threatened?"

"Oh save it Carnie," Nicole responded looking at Carmen with   
irritation. "We all you that you two saw them looking at each other  
like fiesta platters and wanted to find evidence that the looks were  
just the result of being starved for the past two days instead of  
actual erotic attraction. Just admit it, you two were like our  
retarded twins. Besides, lil' big head over there seemed to enjoy  
the show," Nicole continued grinning at Lily.

"Did not!" Lily piped up immediately, looking around her to see if   
anyone actually believed her. Nicole simply seemed amused, Sam was  
looking at her with a slight frown on her face, Brooke was watching  
Sam watch her, Carmen seemed to be muttering to herself trying to  
figure out why Nicole called her Carnie, and Mary Cherry was sniffing  
one of Brooke's shoes.

"Okay, I've had enough of this," Brooke said her back straightening   
purposefully. "I want all of you to get out of our room like now! I  
think we've all seen quite enough of each other for one night," she   
finished looking at all of them and then at the door.

"Um no," Nicole responded spinning around to face Brooke once more.

"What do you mean no?" Brooke asked looking at Nicole like she was   
insane. "I said get out."

"And I said that I don't think that's going to be happening anytime  
soon. I came here to get answers, tell you they're wrong and give  
you the correct ones," Nicole responded calmly. "And I'm not going  
anywhere until I've shoved the light down your throat and made you  
like it."

"Why?" Sam asked turning to look at Brooke. "Why? Why? Why, do you   
associate with her!"

"You want answers?" Brooke asked looking around the room at all of   
them challengingly. "Fine, I'll give you answers," she continued,  
her indignation working up into a creamy lather, before she paused to   
look at Sam. "Is it alright if I give them answers?" she asked the  
brunette, ignoring Nicole and her obnoxious hand motions.

"Be my guest," Sam responded smiling softly at the blonde. Brooke   
smiled back at her then turned to face their audience once more.

"Sam and I are together, and from what you walked in on I think you  
know in what way I mean. She had a thing, I had a thing, and so we   
decided to have a thing together. That's the way it is. When we get  
back home I'm gonna give her my cheerleading jacket, and then we'll  
be going steady. And if any of you have a problem with this you can   
just suck on it real hard!" Brooke continued looking at them with   
her most intimidating face on.

"That was impressive Brooke," Nicole responded not looking at all   
impressed. "Did you practice that one in front of the mirror?" she   
continued staring at the other blonde. "Go steady?" she asked   
incredulously. "Have your brains fallen completely into your utterly  
stylish pants? She," Nicole continued, pointing to Sam at this  
point, "is the enemy. She is a complete social retard, and  
genetically I believe only slightly more complex than a howler  
monkey. If you must embrace the Angelina Jolie inside of you, I can  
accept that, but you will not bring upon us all a social backspace  
the likes of which Los Angeles has never before witnessed, for …   
that," Nicole finished waving her hand at Sam, her voice drenched  
with distaste.

"Howler monkey!" Sam exclaimed lunging at Nicole, missing the other   
blonde by mere centimeters as Brooke grasped her around the waist and   
pulled her back into her body. "Let me go," Sam complained   
struggling in Brooke's surprisingly strong arms. "She called me a  
bloody Howler monkey!"

"Sammy," Brooke said softly into Sam's ear as she fought to hold onto  
the brunette. "The direct use of force is such a poor solution to   
any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and  
large nations. Calm down," Brooke continued in her most soothing   
voice.

"Don't quote Friedman to me," Sam said tilting her head to the side  
to look at Brooke. "She called me a howler monkey! And, you totally   
stole that book from my room."

"Borrow Sam, borrowed," Brooke responded shooting Sam her most  
charming smile hoping it would calm the irate brunette down.

"You're lucky you're cute," Sam muttered, a small smile appearing on   
her face nonetheless as she stopped struggling and settled back into   
Brooke's arms. Damn but she loved it when Brooke held her.

"This isn't a Glamazon meeting Nicole, you can bark all night but I'm  
not going to bite," Brooke said looking over at Nicole as Sam rested   
her head against her shoulder. "She's my howler monkey, and I'm not   
letting her go because you enjoy the creative rush you get when you  
insult her. So, somebody please, pop the cork cause it's time to  
christen our new treaty with the Browns."

Nicole folded her arms across her chest after Brooke finished  
observing the blonde shrewdly. Finally, tilting her head up in the  
air and turning her nose up she addressed the head cheerleader. "Who   
says you get say what treaties are made and unmade around here?" she   
asked staring at Brooke hard.

"I say. And you know why I get to?" Brooke responded meeting   
Nicole's gaze unflinchingly. "Because I'm the Queen Bee. Now be a  
good little peon and hail the queen."

The room was covered in silence after Brooke finished speaking,  
nobody quite able to believe what they had heard come out of her  
mouth. It was a strange relationship that Brooke and Nicole had, to   
insiders of the popular cliché and outsiders alike. It was taken as   
some sort of natural commandment that Nicole just stood by Brooke,  
people had long ago stopped trying to figure out why because how  
wispy little Brooke managed to contain a pit-bull like Nicole was  
beyond their powers of reasoning. But suddenly to the people in that  
room it made sense, Nicole welded her power like a deadly weapon but  
she also respected it in other people. If she came up against  
someone as strong willed as herself she would still rip into them  
like a starved Panda, but she would view them as someone worthy of  
her, a goddess like herself. And nobody had been able to figure out  
how the shorter blonde didn't rip Brooke a new asshole because the   
cheerleader seemed like such a pushover. But Brooke wasn't a push  
over, she could dish it out to Nicole as well as Nicole gave it to  
her, and that's why Nicole always stayed at her side. In Brooke she  
had finally found someone who could and would stand up to her. Their   
dynamic was all about respect.

And then finally when the silence seemed to grow oppressive, Nicole   
smiled, and bowed her head slightly before whipping around to face  
Mary Cherry. "Let's go Gumbo," she barked snapping her fingers at  
the southerner. And with that she strode out of the room without  
looking back.

"Wow," Carmen breathed out looking at Brooke with something close to  
awe on her face once Nicole and Mary Cherry had exited the  
room. "That was the greatest thing I've seen."

"Didn't you once see a six year old rescue a grown man from a burning   
building?" Lily asked looking over at Carmen.

"This was better," was Carmen's only response.

"I think you've got a groupie," Sam said twisting around so that she  
could see Brooke's rapidly flushing face. The fact was that she was  
rather surprised by how Brooke had handled Nicole as well. "I never   
knew you were so dominant," Sam continued watching as Brooke turned a   
deeper shade of red in response.

"It's not so amazing," Brooke said ripping her attention from Sam and   
turning to face Carmen. "You just have to know what Nicole is."

"Which is?" Lily asked.

"A two year old on a power trip with a gold card," Brooke   
responded. "If you let her get away with something she'll keep doing  
it because she can, because getting away with the unacceptable amuses   
her. If you don't set limits with her, she'll set them…and you don't   
want that," she continued. "She's not really a bad person, she just  
sometimes gets intoxicated by herself and doesn't know any better.  
When she's acting normal, she's actually quite charming."

"Are you trying to tell me that Smug Bitch isn't her normal state of   
being?" Sam asked looking up at Brooke unbelievingly.

"Yeah, I'm not saying that it's as alien to her as manual labour,  
but…" Brooke responded seeing that she really wasn't convincing  
anybody. She sighed mentally, getting people to view Nicole as an  
actual human being was apparently going to be the most difficult task  
she'd undertaken.

"Well, now that the world has completely gone insane," Carmen   
responded. "I think I'm going to bed. I have a world order to  
restore before breakfast tomorrow…and of course questions to  
prepare," she said looking at Sam who rolled her eyes. "So…  
goodnight," she said turning around with Lily following behind her.

"And," Lily said, just before she and Carmen reached the  
door. "Congratulations. We're happy for you. Both of us. Aren't  
we Carm?"

"Ecstatic," Carmen responded. "Positively." Then before Carmen  
could say anything else, Lily ushered her out the door and Brooke and  
Sam were left alone in their room once again.

The moment the door closed, Brooke dropped her head down onto Sam's   
shoulder and let out a piteous moan. "What?" Sam asked kissing her   
on the side of her head. "That wasn't fun for you?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

**Part Twenty-Two**  
------------------------

"You look tired," Nicole commented with a grin as Brooke slumped down   
into the seat next to her. Harrison had taken over her seat next to  
Sam; apparently the sheet of paper he was waving in her face was of  
the utmost importance so she decided to steal his seat.

"Don't start with me," Brooke responded turning to face Nicole,  
though the smile on her face took away any sting her words may have  
had. 

"Is she any good?" Nicole asked looking at Brooke intently.

"I wouldn't know," Brooke responded. "THAT'S not why I'm tired," she  
continued shooting her friend a look. "I've never walked so much   
continuously in my entire life. My feet are bleeding; my feet have  
to be bleeding. This is too much, I mean my god, I'm from L.A. not   
Wisconsin or something."

"So you haven't…" Nicole asked her voice incredulous. After what she  
had seen the night before, the idea that the two of them had somehow   
managed to control themselves in the past was unimaginable to her.

"No." 

"Would you tell if you had?"

"No."

"Didn't think so," Nicole said looking towards the front of the bus  
as the engine started up.

"Lady's never kiss and tell," Brooke responded.

"I always tell."

"Exactly," Brooke replied with a grin, thinking she had just called   
checkmate.

"So, is she any good?" Nicole responded seeing the self satisfied   
look on Brooke's face and knowing that it wouldn't be there for long.

"I just said…"

"I know," Nicole said interrupting. "But I don't know any lady's who  
would be caught dead doing what you were last night … so dish."

"There's nothing to tell," Brooke responded. "You saw everything,"   
she added in a rather militant tone.

"Let me guess, you're so deeply in lurve that you're relationship has   
grown so that it's deeper than a physical love," Nicole responded   
grinning happily.

"Shut up," Brooke responded. "Besides, who would say that, that's   
the most retarded thing I've ever heard."

"Oh, I see, so there's always room for S-A-M-M-Y, huh?" Nicole asked.

"You're going to torture me for the rest of the week because I called  
you a peon aren't you?" Brooke asked miserably.

"Yes. Now I'm going to make some breast jokes, and you better laugh  
like you mean it!"

Brooke sighed as Nicole began speaking again. Why did relationships  
have to be such hard work?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam looked up from the notes she had spread out in front of her when  
she heard the washroom door nosily creak open. When Brooke had  
decided to take a shower after dinner, she had taken out the notes  
she had received from Arabian Knight, and for the first time in days   
returned her attention to what had gotten her so excited about this  
field trip in the first place. However, as she watched Brooke exit  
the washroom, clad only in a white bathrobe with wet, messy hair   
silhouetting her face, Sam quickly remembered why she had forgotten  
all about her article in the first place.

"What?" Brooke asked looking over at Sam with a slight smile sensing  
the girls eyes on her. "You're not going to accuse me of hogging the   
shower again are you?"

"Nothing. No. I mean wow," Sam breathed out still unable to pull  
her eyes off of Brooke. "You look really, really…I don't know," Sam  
said shaking her head and blushing as she realized that she couldn't   
think of a word to adequately describe how breathtaking Brooke  
looked. "I can't…why don't you just think of something really poetic   
and pretend like I said it."

Brooke smiled at her flustered roommate and walked over to her bed  
flopping down on the side not occupied by the notes Sam was gathering  
up. Once horizontal, she reached her arms back placing them under  
her head, which in turn caused her robe to inch up a little,  
smiling as she watched Sam become fascinated by the newly revealed  
areas of skin.

"It's going to be really hard for you to write that article if you  
can't think of any adjectives," Brooke commented drawing Sam's   
attention back to her face.

"I know, shame on you," Sam responded her gaze looked on Brooke's   
lips for a moment, before she finally gave into her desires and  
leaned down pressing her own lips against Brooke's.

"Shame on me?" Brooke asked once their kiss broke. "What did I do?"

"You're so irresistible that you leave me almost literally  
speechless," Sam responded, as her hand slowly crept across Brooke's  
robe covered abdomen, before coming to rest on her hip.

"I can't help the fact that I'm sinfully delicious," Brooke   
responded, her own eyes fastened on Sam's face as the brunette  
watched her hand play across Brooke's mid-section.

"McQueen, deep and delicious," Sam replied smiling, before returning  
to her serious contemplation of the shapes her hands were making over   
Brooke's robe.

"What are you thinking?" Brooke asked, placing her hand over top of   
Sam's watching her carefully. There was something in the brunette's  
gaze that eluded her, but was also exciting her.

"That," Sam said pausing so that she could look up into Brooke's  
eyes. "That I'd like to see what's under this," she continued, her  
fingers idly tracing the tie of the robe.

Brooke was silent for a moment, and then lifted up her hand so that  
it came to rest on the side of Sam's face. Then, propping herself up  
on her other hand, she leaned forward bringing their lips together,   
softly at first then with increasing intensity as she felt Sam's  
hands begin to work the tie of her robe.

As Sam's hand slipped inside of her robe, Brooke's arm gave way and  
she fell back against the bed, Sam easily rolling on top of her,  
their lips only separating when Sam rose up to watch her actions once  
she had settled herself on top of Brooke.

Brooke watched Sam's face, her lips were slightly parted and her eyes   
hooded, as her thumb stroked Brooke's stomach lightly. Brooke felt  
her breath start to come in quicken and her heart flutter as Sam  
slipped her other hand inside of the robe. The blonde felt herself  
shiver as she realized what Sam was about to do, and then the  
brunette fulfilled her prophecy. Slowly, Sam slid her hands up  
Brooke's torso, the robe spreading apart in the wake of her hands.

Sam was still for a moment once she had revealed Brooke's nude torso  
to her hungry eyes, then she leaned forward bringing their lips   
crashing against each others once again passionately, as she placed  
her hand on Brooke's bare breast for the first time, swallowing the   
blonde's groan hungrily.

"Brooke?" Sam asked softly as the need for oxygen finally forced them  
apart. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure it was going to  
break free of her chest. She felt as if she were on fire, she felt  
like she was suffocating and Brooke's skin was air. She needed…she   
needed…

"I know," Brooke whispered, her own body shivering with   
anticipation. Sam had stilled her hand when she spoke, but it made  
no difference to Brooke's body, Sam had merely removed the cause, not   
the symptoms. "I want…I'm ready," she continued bringing one of her  
hands up to rest over top of Sam's, using it to make Sam's hand  
squeeze her breast once more.

Sam was silent for a moment, her attention focused on her hand, which   
had started to massage Brooke's breast once more, then she smiled and   
leaned forward bringing their lips together once more. And, as she  
felt Brooke's hands begin to slide under her own shirt, she thought  
to herself, 'so this is what love is'. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The End

**Any comments, questions, or miscellaneous messages, welcome and ****  
****greatly appreciated!**


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